Leading names in the HIV/AIDS vaccine world to attend Cape Town conference

Speakers include Dr Stanley Plotkin, developer of the rubella vaccine; Dr Alan Bernstein from the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise; Dr Malegapuru Makgoba from the University of KwaZulu-Natal; Dr Susan Buchbinder from the San Francisco Department of Public Health; Dr Anthony Fauci from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and, Dr Robert Gallo of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, co-discoverer of the HI virus.

“With recent events in the field of HIV vaccine research and development, this is an important conference that will allow the field to take stock of what has been achieved and investigate what directions we should pursue in the future to develop a successful HIV vaccine,” says conference chair Prof. Lynn Morris. “We hope to provide a forum for the exchange of scientific data, sharing of ideas and promoting collaborations. We have attracted some of the leading names in the field to the conference, we have excellent sponsorship and we look forward to a successful event that moves the field forward.”
The conference has attracted a record number of abstracts and scholarship applications. Abstracts were reviewed by a panel of international experts and 92 have been selected thus far.

Ninety scholarships have also been awarded to scientists from developing countries including South Africa, China, Brazil, Argentina, Kenya, Nigeria, Thailand and Uganda, as well as 49 Travel Awards to scientists from Europe and the USA. Twenty Cape Town-based students have received registration waivers.

The conference will include nine plenary lectures covering all aspects of HIV vaccine research, oral and poster sessions, as well as symposia and debates. Accepted peer-reviewed abstracts will be published on-line by AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses during the week of the conference and the organisers also hope to have the plenary sessions available as podcast/flash drive presentations. Five new investigator awards will be announced at the conference.

“This is the first time the meeting is being held in Africa,” says conference co-chair Dr Koleka Mlisana. “Nowhere is the need for an HIV vaccine more pressing than in Africa, home to almost 25 million HIV-infected people. South Africa has an active community involved in basic research, clinical trials and advocacy for HIV vaccines, and is part of regional and international networks. We have received a record number of abstracts this year which is testimony to the intense interest this field is attracting.”

The conference takes place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The major sponsors of the conference are the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, the Office of AIDS Research of the US National Institutes of Health, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Other sponsors are the US Military HIV Research Program, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the South African Department of Science & Technology, the World Health Organisation's African AIDS Vaccine Programme, ANRS (Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le Sida et les hepatites virales), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, The Wellcome Trust, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative/Medical Research Council, the South African TB and AIDS Training and Aurum Institute for Health Research.

For more information see the conference website: http://www.hivvaccineenterprise.org/conference/2008/index.aspx or contact aidsvaccine08@nicd.ac.za

For media queries contact: Michelle Galloway, South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative, +27 21 938 0205, e-mail: