6th International AIDS Society Conference ,

Underway This Week

 

The International AIDS Society (IAS) is an independent association of HIV professionals, with 14,000 members from 190 countries working at all levels of the global response to AIDS. IAS members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic, as well as policy and programme planners. The International AIDS Society’s vision is a global movement of people working together to end the HIV epidemic, applying scientific evidence and best practice at every level of the HIV response.

The IAS is the custodian of the biennial International AIDS Conference and the lead organizer of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention.

The current IAS President is Dr. Julio Montaner (Canada), who is Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, BC. President-Elect, Dr. Elly Katabira (Uganda) will assume the IAS presidency at the close of the International AIDS Conference in July 2010. Past presidents have included Pedro Cahn, Helene D. Gayle, Stefano Vella, Joep Lange, David Cooper, Paul Volberding, and Peter Piot. The Executive Director is Robin Gorna, who succeeded Craig McClure in September 2009. This IAS’s headquarters are based in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

By Miguel Gomez, AIDS.gov Director

 

 

This week, over 5,000 delegates from around the world are attending the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2011) in Rome, Italy. This biannual conference is the world’s largest open scientific conference on HIV/AIDS, and provides “a unique opportunity for the world’s leading scientists, clinicians, public health experts and community leaders to examine the latest developments in HIV-related research, and to explore how scientific advances can – in very practical ways – inform the global response to HIV/AIDS.”

Today. the conference announced the Rome Statement for an HIV Cure calling for an acceleration of HIV cure research.

For more information on the conference, visit the official website at http://www.ias2011.org/ or follow updates on Twitter via @ias2011 .

The International AIDS Society also hosts the International AIDS Conference, which will be held in Washington DC in July 2012.

 

 

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