Last week HIV.gov covered HIV research coming out of the 2019 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). We spoke with several federal HIV experts who highlighted some of the key takeaways from the conference and provided helpful context.
Among the highlights coming out of the conference were:
- A headline-making report of a second person “cured” of HIV after a stem cell transplant to treat cancer. NIH’s Dr. Carl Dieffenbach explained the research finding and that such an intensive and risky procedure is not scalable for widespread use. Watch his video.
- NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci provided a detailed overview of Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America. Watch our conversation with him.
For your convenience, we’ve summarized all of our coverage below so you can catch up on any of the posts or video interviews that you missed or share them with your colleagues
Summary
HIV Research Update and Preview of CROI 2019 from NIH’s Dr. Carl Dieffenbach (video)
Before the conference opened, Dr. Carl Dieffenbach spoke about some of the current issues in the field of HIV research and he highlighted some of the upcoming talks he was most excited about. He describes why research to help optimize the process of testing, linking to care, and treating people living with HIV is so critical.
Dr. Fauci Addresses CROI about Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America
Dr. Anthony Fauci provided a general overview of the new initiative, Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America. In particular, he discussed:
- How he and the leaders at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have collaborated on a strategy to make best use of the highly effective tools that are now available – specifically, HIV treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
- The roles that research and NIH, specifically, will play in the new initiative.
HIV "Cure" Update and More: Research Highlights from CROI 2019 (video)
Dr. Carl Dieffenbach talks about some of the new HIV research highlights presented during the first full day of presentation at CROI, including:
- The case of a patient reported to be possibly cured of HIV infection
- Promising findings from a large study evaluating a “universal test and treat” strategy
- A study that found that the availability of point-of-care viral load testing significantly improved HIV viral suppression and retention in care in South Africa, partly by ensuring rapid receipt of viral load results to patients and their providers.
CDC’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin and Dr. Eugene McCray discussed highlights of CDC-supported research presented a the conference including:
- Using molecular surveillance for public health impact
- Trends in PrEP awareness and uptake among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men
- CDC’s role in the Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan.
In addition, we shared several news releases and blog posts from our colleagues at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), featuring NIAID-supported studies presented at CROI 2019. All of our coverage from CROI can be found using the CROI Tag. Check out the posts and videos if you missed them. Share feedback with us about our coverage of CROI and HIV research on FacebookExit Disclaimer or TwitterExit Disclaimer . Read more about Federal HIV research activities and the agencies involved elsewhere on HIV.gov.