HIV Research for Prevention 2016: Vaccine, Microbicide and ARV-based Prevention Science (HIV R4P)

The purpose of this grant application is to request funds to partially support planning, organizing and hosting of the only international scientific meeting dedicated to biomedical HIV prevention. The conference, designated HIV Research for Prevention 2016 (HIV R4P 2016) will be held October 18-21, 2016, in Chicago Illinois. HIV R4P 2016 will continue the excellence that was achieved in Cape Town, South Africa at the inaugural meeting in 2014. By all measures, the meeting was a tremendous success bringing together HIV researchers focused on vaccines, microbicides, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The post-conference survey revealed that over 98% of attendees were satisfied with the conference. The primary goals of HIV R4P 2016 are to help create opportunities for trans-disciplinary interactions in biomedical prevention research; expand discussions of crosscutting issues as new HIV prevention options are developed, and increase coordination and communication among international groups. The pursuit of effective biomedical HIV prevention options has progressed further and faster in the last few years than at any time since the epidemic began. Recent breakthroughs in vaccines, ARV-based microbicides, PrEP, treatment for prevention and other prevention technologies create new opportunities to reduce the impact of the global epidemic. This progress also brings opportunity for scientific debate and creates new challenges as we continue to move HIV biomedical prevention research forward. This international conference will bring together researchers, advocates, clinicians, policy makers, private sector partners and public health experts to present, discuss, and debate the latest research in ARV-based prevention, vaccines, and related areas of HIV prevention. It will also provide a forum to address cross-cutting issues, emphasizing the importance of combination prevention, and it will break down any existing research siloes between different prevention technologies. HIV R4P 2016 will therefore have a significant impact on the advancement of scientific research in unique prevention areas with the potential to make significant progress in the prevention of HIV infection. The conference will attract between 1,200–1,500 members of the HIV prevention community and the requested funding will provide 220 full scholarships, support the participation of 58 speakers, and provide necessary infrastructure to support the meeting. Other funding sources will provide additional support, as well as subsidized registration rates for early-career and lower-middle income country (LMIC) scientists. Information presented at the conference will be disseminated to give free, worldwide access to all who are unable to attend in person. Peer-reviewed abstracts will be published online in an open access manner, and posters will be available online as e-posters. All sessions will be available as webcasts, including free downloads of slides and audio on the conference web site making the information presented available to all interested scientists and the general public.