On Tuesday at the International AIDS Society’s 12th Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2023), HIV.gov continued our conversations about research highlights, including a focus on the latest about HIV vaccines. We also heard an update from the NIH Office of AIDS Research.

NIH’s Carl Dieffenbach, PhD, Director of the Division of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), spokeExit Disclaimer with Louis Shackelford, MPH, about HIV vaccine studies being discussed at IAS 2023 and potential roles for broadly neutralizing antibodies (or bNAbs). Louis is the Acting Director for External Relations at the NIH-supported HIV Vaccine Trials NetworkExit Disclaimer (HVTN) and COVID-19 Prevention NetworkExit Disclaimer. Noting it is an exciting time in HIV vaccine research, Carl explained that scientists are exploring how to take what we have learned about bNAbs, which prevented acquisition of some HIV strains, and turn that into an HIV vaccine. In addition, Carl and Louis discussed how bNAbs are being studied for use in HIV treatment and even, possibly, a cure. View their conversation Exit Disclaimerbelow:

Bill Kapogiannis, MD, Acting Director of NIH’s Office of AIDS Research (OAR), spokeExit Disclaimer with Catey Laube, Section Chief for HIV, STIs, Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation in NIAID’s Office of Communications and Government Relations. OAR coordinates the scientific, budgetary, legislative, and policy components of HIV/AIDS research across NIH’s institutes and centers. Bill discussed the importance of the results from the NIH-supported REPRIEVE trial presented yesterday at the conference. The global study found that statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering medications, may offset the elevated risk of cardiovascular disease experienced by people with HIV by more than a third, potentially preventing one in five major cardiovascular events (e.g., heart attack or stroke) or premature deaths in this population. He noted that these important findings have implications for clinical guidelines for the care of people with HIV. Bill also observed that the findings are relevant to two of OAR’s signature programs: HIV and Aging, since the study population was people with HIV ages 40-75, and HIV and Women, since the results were equally applicable to women. View their conversationExit Disclaimer below:

IAS 2023Exit Disclaimer, convening in Brisbane, Australia, features the latest advances in basic, clinical, and operational HIV research and seeks to move science into policy and practice. The conference features seven plenary sessions, more than 60 symposia and oral abstract sessions, hundreds of poster sessions, and many satellite sessions featuring highly diverse and cutting-edge research. Many of the studies that are being presented have been conducted by or funded by federal partners, including NIH, CDC, PEPFAR, DoD, and others.

As is the custom in Australia, HIV.gov acknowledges the Jagera and Turrbal people as the Traditional Custodians of Meanjin (Brisbane), the land on which IAS 2023 is taking place. We pay our respects to Jagera and Turrbal elders past, present, and emerging.

Follow all of our conversations from IAS 2023 this week here on the blog as well as on on HIV.gov’s FacebookExit Disclaimer, InstagramExit Disclaimer, and TwitterExit Disclaimer, and on the LinkedInExit Disclaimer account of the HHS Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy.