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The 2017 CROI brings together investigators from around the world.
Posted On: March 16, 2017
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Conference attendee, Dr. Kayode Balogun, Postdoctoral Fellow. Supervisor: Dr. Lena Serghides, TGRI.
Conference: Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), February 13-16, 2017, Seattle, WA, USA.
Conference Highlight: The 2017 CROI meeting focused on improving HIV diagnosis and care cascades particularly in infants and children, and on the management of comorbid conditions.
Conference Article:
The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) convenes expert basic, translational, and clinical researchers from around the world to share their latest findings on HIV/AIDS and related disease.
Antiretrovirals have been successfully used to treat HIV, thereby shifting the trajectory of the infection to a chronic, manageable disease. The quest for the cure/eradication of HIV is actively ongoing. Dr. Jintanat Ananworanich of the US Military HIV Research Program, MD, USA talked about the importance of early treatment of HIV, particularly in infants and children, as a potential strategy to prolonged remission and possible cure. Children have the opportunity to benefit immensely from early treatment because of their unique immune system, excellent response to vaccines and active thymus gland that can produce new naïve CD4 T-cells that could be primed early to control viral replication. Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA also talked about the advances in cellular therapy in cancer and HIV. Dr. June’s talk focused on the potential of chimeric antigen receptor T cells to achieve functional cure of HIV. He emphasized the use of synthetic biology and genetic engineering to create an HIV-resistant immune system and augmented viral immunity.
As more HIV-positive women on antiretrovirals continue to make reproductive choices, it is imperative to understand the risks of these drugs to fetal development and future health of the child. Dr. Claire Thorne of the University College London, UK gave a talk titled “HIV-exposed and uninfected child (HEU): what's to worry?” As the population of HEU children continue to rise, Dr. Thorne’s presentation showed evidence of higher mortality, mitochondrial toxicity, metabolic alterations, and neurodevelopmental delays in HEU children. She also suggested a potential transgenerational risk. Dr. Thorne stressed the importance of understanding the mechanisms and pathways associated with adverse outcomes in HEU children.
Conference Highlight: The 2017 CROI meeting focused on improving HIV diagnosis and care cascades particularly in infants and children, and on the management of comorbid conditions.
Conference Article:
The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) convenes expert basic, translational, and clinical researchers from around the world to share their latest findings on HIV/AIDS and related disease.
Antiretrovirals have been successfully used to treat HIV, thereby shifting the trajectory of the infection to a chronic, manageable disease. The quest for the cure/eradication of HIV is actively ongoing. Dr. Jintanat Ananworanich of the US Military HIV Research Program, MD, USA talked about the importance of early treatment of HIV, particularly in infants and children, as a potential strategy to prolonged remission and possible cure. Children have the opportunity to benefit immensely from early treatment because of their unique immune system, excellent response to vaccines and active thymus gland that can produce new naïve CD4 T-cells that could be primed early to control viral replication. Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA also talked about the advances in cellular therapy in cancer and HIV. Dr. June’s talk focused on the potential of chimeric antigen receptor T cells to achieve functional cure of HIV. He emphasized the use of synthetic biology and genetic engineering to create an HIV-resistant immune system and augmented viral immunity.
As more HIV-positive women on antiretrovirals continue to make reproductive choices, it is imperative to understand the risks of these drugs to fetal development and future health of the child. Dr. Claire Thorne of the University College London, UK gave a talk titled “HIV-exposed and uninfected child (HEU): what's to worry?” As the population of HEU children continue to rise, Dr. Thorne’s presentation showed evidence of higher mortality, mitochondrial toxicity, metabolic alterations, and neurodevelopmental delays in HEU children. She also suggested a potential transgenerational risk. Dr. Thorne stressed the importance of understanding the mechanisms and pathways associated with adverse outcomes in HEU children.