In a  Huffington Post opinion piece, Mitchell Warren, AVAC executive director, encourages the field to step up the pace further.

In a post, Margie McGlynn, IAVI CEO, reflects on progress and setback and calls for persevarance in pursuit of an AIDS vaccine, http://blog.usaid.gov/2013/05/inspiration-for-the-journey-to-an-hiv-vaccine/?_cldee=amJydW5ldEB2YWNjaW5lZW50ZXJwcmlzZS5vcmc%3D.

The Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) calls for perseverance in the research, development and testing of future vaccine candidates in response to last week's decision to stop the testing of a candidate HIV vaccine combination (study HVTN 505).  Check out their post, http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/another-candidate-hiv-vaccine-fails-we-must-keep-trying/. 

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, will stop administering injections in its HVTN 505 clinical trial of an investigational HIV vaccine regimen because an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) found during a scheduled interim review that the vaccine regimen did not prevent HIV infection nor reduce viral load (the amount of HIV in the blood) among vaccine recipients who became infected with HIV.

Please join us on Thursday, 2 May at 11:00 a.m. EDT for a web briefing on the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise’s latest Timely Topics in HIV Vaccines consultation on Vaccine Induced Sero-Positivity/Reactivity (VISP/R). The Enterprise, IAVI and NIAID will present highlights from the recent consultation, including preliminary recommendations to develop a coordinated field-wide approach to VISP/R. 

The Enterprise, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, IMPAACT Network and the Vaccine Research Center convened a consultation in Entebbe, Uganda in January 2013 to help develop recommendations for the design and conduct of current and future HIV prevention trials in infants born to HIV-positive mothers.  The report from the meeting is now available.  Click here to view the report.

The Boston Globe today featured the Ragon Institute’s new lab space and highlights the potential impact of cuts in federal funding on HIV research.  Click here to read the full article.

We are now accepting pre-registrations, scholarship applications and abstract submissions for AIDS Vaccine 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.  The conference, hosted by the Catalan Program for HIV Vaccine Research (HIVACAT) and the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise will accept abstracts and scholarship applications until  28 April.  Latebreak abstract submissions open 14 June.

Register by 21 June and receive the early rate of $475.

In it's World AIDS Day announcement, the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI) Research and Development Alliance Coordinating Office highlighted Canada's important role in advancing collaborations to succeed in HIV vaccine development. Read the statement here,   http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1081247/canada-s-role-in-advancing-hiv-vaccines-hinges-on-international-collaborations

The 22nd Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research will be held at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Connect with researchers, frontline public health and community-based workers, people living with HIV and AIDS and others interested in the field of HIV research in Vancouver for CAHR 2013.  For more information, visit, http://www.cahr-acrv.ca/.