Editor’s Note: We had opportunities to catch up with so many great partners while at the XIX International Conference on AIDS (AIDS 2012Exit Disclaimer) in July, we are continuing to bring you interviews on a host of important issues.

During the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012Exit Disclaimer) last month, I had an opportunity to catch up with Dr. Gina Brown, Coordinator of Women and Girls and Microbicides Research at the NIH’s Office of AIDS Research. We discussed interesting information presented at AIDS 2012 about HIV prevention, care, and treatment for women and girls, as well as related research supported by NIH. The topics we talked about included the exploration of whether hormonal contraceptives potentially increase HIV risk for women using them; the latest developments in microbicide research, including NIH’s announcement of the ASPIRE study, a study to evaluate a vaginal ring that contains an antiretroviral drug originally developed to treat HIV; the ongoing long-term study of women and HIV (Women’s Interagency HIV Study or WIHS); the Women’s HIV SeroIncidence Study (ISIS); and the intersection of and need to further examine domestic/intimate partner violence and HIV among women. Watch our brief conversation below.Learn more:

• Read more about NIH’s women and girls and microbicides research.
• Read about the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), the largest observational study of 2,000 HIV-infected women to investigate factors such as how AIDS develops, the effectiveness of therapy and treatment, drug resistance, co-infections, the influence of hormones and aging, and more.
• Read about the Women’s HIV SeroIncidence Study (ISIS), an observational study of women at high risk for HIV acquisition in the United States to evaluate risk factors such as alcohol and drug use, domestic violence, and mental health status.

Stay tuned for more posts featuring conversations from AIDS 2012 later this week and next.