World: Atlanta Hosts HIV Vaccine Research Conference
By Henry Neondo
Atlanta, USA----Advances in the search for a safe and effective HIV vaccine will be the focus of nearly 1,100 researchers, funders, policy makers and advocates from around the world gathered in Atlanta for today's opening of AIDS Vaccine 2010. The conference, the world's only scientific meeting on HIV vaccine research, will run through 1 October.
"The search for a safe and effective HIV vaccine has entered a new era, marked by progress including the isolation of several broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV, discoveries that shine new light on human immune responses to HIV infection and ongoing analysis of the first large-scale human trial to demonstrate that a vaccine can reduce HIV infections," said Alan Bernstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise.
The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise (the Enterprise) is an international partnership of leading research, funding and advocacy organizations working collaboratively to speed HIV vaccine research. The Enterprise is the host of the annual AIDS Vaccine conference.
"AIDS Vaccine 2010 takes HIV vaccine research a significant step forward through more than 500 presentations of the latest research in HIV infection, the interaction of the virus with the immune system, vaccine design and development and clinical research," said conference chair Eric Hunter, of the Centre for AIDS Research at Emory University.
"As a global leader in HIV vaccine research, Emory University is pleased to welcome our colleagues from around the world for this important overview of the latest research advances and challenges in the field."
"With more than 50,000 people newly infected by HIV each week, an HIV vaccine remains a top global health priority," said William Makgoba, vice-chancellor of South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal and a member of the Republic of South Africa National Planning Commission. "We are in a rich period of progress in HIV vaccine research, but much work lies ahead. Innovation, collaboration and full global participation in this effort, all values embodied by the AIDS Vaccine conference, will be key to developing the public health tools we need to slow and one day end this epidemic."