5th IAS conference to be held in Cape Town
Between July 19 and 22, 5,000 scientists, community leaders and implementers will refocus attention on AIDS in Africa at the IAS 2009 Conference, to be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in South Africa. South Africa bears the largest burden of the AIDS pandemic of any country in the world, with an estimated 5.7 million people living with HIV in 2007. The decision to hold IAS 2009 in southern Africa reflects organizers’ desire to refocus the attention of the international scientific community on the continued challenges facing a region that is battling a generalized epidemic, and to highlight the latest efforts to fight it.
“The need for evidence-based interventions has never been more important,” said Dr. Julio Montaner, International AIDS Society (IAS) President and IAS 2009 Conference Chair, and Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. “Good science must inform good policy and programming to ensure the best outcomes for individuals and communities. Science has given us the ability to save lives; now is not the time to be short-sighted.”
The 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention will focus on evidence-based approaches to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, while emphasizing the continued need to strategically invest in HIV research, including operations research, to guide implementation of programs.
The opening session will highlight the convergence of science and activism, and feature a scientific keynote address by 2008 Nobel Laureate and IAS Governing Council member Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi.
While continuing its strong emphasis on basic, clinical and biomedical prevention sciences, IAS 2009 will feature a new program track focusing on operations research. The new track is intended to further emphasize the defining objective of the IAS conference: how to quickly translate scientific discoveries into practical interventions that respond to current challenges in HIV prevention, treatment and care, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In addition to abstract-driven sessions, the conference will feature a variety of symposia and bridging sessions.
Presentations will include:
• Reuben Granich (US): Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) as Prevention
• Amalio Telenti (Switzerland): HIV and Host Genetics
• Louise Kuhn (South Africa): Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission
• Wafaa El-Sadr (US): Inflammation and HIV: A New Paradigm
• Ron Gray (UK): Biomedical Prevention, Including Microbicides, Vaccines, Circumcision and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
• Bruce Walker (US): Immune Control of HIV Replication
• Stefano Bertozzi (Mexico): Financing the Long-Term Response to HIV
• Prashini Moodley (South Africa): HIV and Extremely Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
• Gerald Friedland (US): Advances in Operations Research Addressing the Convergent HIV and TB Epidemics
• Pedro Cahn (Argentina): Antiretroviral Therapy in 2009: Successes and Challenges
• Rachel Jewkes (South Africa): Gender and Sexuality: Recent Data and its Implications for HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support
• Jerald Sadoff (US): Developments in Tuberculosis Vaccine Research
Full conference program details and registration information are available at www.ias2009.org. During the conference, links to all abstracts, as well as webcasts, session slides and speeches will be available on the website.