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September 8, 2011 Dear Advocates, With the recent breakthroughs in ARV-based prevention, do AIDS vaccines matter anymore? This update contains resources for advocates to learn why the answer is “yes.” In advance of next week’s AIDS Vaccine Conference in Bangkok, we’ve prepared a brief overview of breakthroughs to note in the field and issues to track, both at the conference and in the coming months. We’ve also highlighted a new article on vaccine development, information on key satellite sessions at the conference and details on how to follow the conference on the web. A perspective piece published today in the New England Journal of Medicine provides an excellent overview of what needs to be done next to develop an AIDS vaccine. The authors, Dr. Tony Fauci, leader of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Peggy Johnston, who led NIAID's AIDS vaccine efforts for nearly two decades, explain how close studies of the natural immune responses to HIV after infection occurs have paved the way for science focused on the "unnatural" responses that a vaccine would need to induce to provide protection. Click here to read AVAC’s AIDS vaccine update, which is designed to help advocates grapple with questions like: What about vaccines? Do they matter anymore? Will it be possible to conduct the trials to find one, given the likely expansion of the prevention toolbox? For advocates following the field more closely, one key question is: How will the field maintain its exciting scientific momentum in the context of funding constraints and threatened cuts to the NIH budget? For information on the range of sessions planned for the conference, check out the full program here. There are also a number of pre-conference satellite sessions scheduled for Monday, September 12, a number of which AVAC and its partners are involved in:
For those of you unable to attend in person, there are a number of ways to follow the conference remotely. AVAC and others will be tweeting real-time updates from Bangkok (follow AVAC @hivpxresearch and/or follow #aidsvax11 on Twitter). The conference organizers have also organized webcasts of plenary sessions and press conferences. Session webcasts will be posted the next day—check them out on the conference website or AVAC’s Facebook page. In the weeks after the conference, we’ll provide an update with our take on key developments in the areas highlighted in our pre-conference briefing. If there’s an issue of particular interest to you or research that you’d like to learn more about, please let us know by e-mailing avac@avac.org. Best, |
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