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Scientists plan to announce research strategy aimed at pursuing HIV/AIDS cure, Wall Street Journal reports

On July 19, ahead of the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., "prominent AIDS scientists plan to announce the first comprehensive research strategy aimed at pursuing new leads and addressing hurdles to a cure" for HIV/AIDS, the Wall Street Journal reports.

20 Jul 2012

PBS Newshour shares stories of those affected by HIV/AIDS epidemic

"As Washington prepares to host the International AIDS Conference from July 22-27, PBS NewsHour will profile some of the parallel stories unfolding around the epidemic on opposite ends of the globe," the news service writes. In the first of these stories, the news service profiles two individuals -- John Johnson in Washington, D.C., and Alice Sibanda in Hwange, Zimbabwe -- who as children lost their parents to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

20 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Researchers see potential to control HIV pandemic; The 'ceaseless attacks' on women's reproductive health

We are at a moment of extraordinary optimism in the response to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A series of scientific breakthroughs ... have the potential to markedly expand the available preventive tools. There is evidence of the first cure of an HIV-infected person. And most important, the finding that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy can both improve individual patient outcomes and reduce the risk of HIV transmission to sexual partners by 96% has led many to assert what had so long seemed impossible: that control of the HIV pandemic may be achievable.

20 Jul 2012

Weighing up the gains for smokers who quit

People seem to gain more weight after giving up smoking than has previously been estimated, report researchers.

19 Jul 2012

UNMC's ART injectables can successfully treat HIV infection

This has been a good week for breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS. Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration approved a daily pill, Truvada, which reduces the risk of HIV infection. Today, a University of Nebraska Medical Center research team's progress toward developing weekly or twice-monthly injectable antiretroviral therapy (ART) nanomedicines for patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection will be highlighted as the cover story in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

19 Jul 2012

AHF: U.S. defends Obama no-show at AIDS conference

On the heels of a White House defense of President Barack Obama's decision to skip the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. (Agence France-Presse: "US defends Obama no-show at AIDS Conference," By Kerry Sheridan, July 18, 2012) AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) released a TV ad featuring Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa warning of the consequences of a "global abandonment of AIDS."

19 Jul 2012

Bryologs more potent than prostratin in treating HIV

Thanks to antiretrovirals, an AIDS diagnosis hasn't been a death sentence for nearly two decades. But highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is also not a cure.

19 Jul 2012

USA Today examines recent HIV breakthroughs

USA Today examines several scientific breakthroughs that researchers say "could be key to reducing new HIV infections." "Doctors are hopeful not because of a single discovery, but because of a string of breakthroughs over the past two or three years, says Diane Havlir, a professor at the University of California-San Francisco," the news service writes.

19 Jul 2012

PATH Blog highlights efforts to reduce HIV in DRC

The PATH Blog reports on the organization's efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) "to reduce transmission of HIV, deliver integrated care and services for people affected by HIV/AIDS, and build up the country's health system to expand and improve services."

19 Jul 2012

Duke-led consortium to focus on inducing neutralizing antibodies for HIV-1 prevention

Two Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are among the team recently funded to explore ways to create the precise immune factors needed for effective vaccines against HIV.

19 Jul 2012

NPR reports on Brazilian clinical trial of Truvada as prevention strategy

NPR's "Shots" blog reports on one of the drug trials considered by the FDA in its approval of the antiretroviral drug Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV among people at risk of contracting the virus, which "was done at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Research Institute, also known as Fiocruz, in Rio de Janeiro."

19 Jul 2012

Africa's new partnership for sustainable health development 'makes sense'

With Africa's "emerging position in the global order, ... astute African leaders are striving to ensure that this realignment delivers a new paradigm of partnership for sustainable health development -- a partnership that is led by Africa, for Africans, through African-sourced solutions," UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes in a Huffington Post "Impact Blog" opinion piece.

19 Jul 2012

Report shows high rates of HIV infections and deaths from AIDS among Black MSM

Today, the Black AIDS Institute released its latest report, Back of the Line: The State of AIDS Among Black Gay Men in America. The landmark report highlights alarming data that show disproportionately high rates of HIV infections and deaths from AIDS among Black MSM, why the disparities persist and are growing worse, and the urgent need for local and national leadership to immediately address the devastating health crisis.

19 Jul 2012

Abscisic acid has anti-inflammatory effects in the lungs and gut

Building on previous work with the botanical abscisic acida, researchers in the Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine Laboratory (NIMML) have discovered that abscisic acid has anti-inflammatory effects in the lungs as well as in the gut.

19 Jul 2012

Duke receives Gates Foundation grant for HIV vaccine study

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a new grant to Duke University Medical Center for work developing vaccines that can induce IgA antibodies for preventing HIV-1 infection. This award comes from the Gates' Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD) program.

19 Jul 2012

Researchers identify new behavior for the human macrophage

Researchers at the Institute of Human Virology of the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a new behavior for the human macrophage that provides new explanations for several features of HIV biology, including how the virus persists within the body indefinitely, how quiescently infected CD4+ T-cells arise, and how the infection leads to depletion of CD4+ T-cells.

19 Jul 2012

Truvada gains FDA approval as HIV preventive

The daily pill is the first aimed at reducing the risk of contracting HIV in healthy people who are at high risk of contracting AIDS. It will have a boxed warning that it should be used only by people whose HIV-negative status is confirmed prior to prescription and at least every three months after.

18 Jul 2012

Podcast examines HIV/AIDS economics, U.S. role in global epidemic response

In this Center for Global Development (CGD) "Global Prosperity Wonkcast," Lawrence MacDonald, vice president for communications and policy outreach at CGD, interviews CGD senior fellow Mead Over, an expert on the economics of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and Jenny Ottenhoff, CGD policy outreach associate, about the "state of the epidemic, budget austerity, and the U.S. role in the global response."

18 Jul 2012

Advocates, policy experts respond to FDA approval of Truvada for HIV prevention

Though the FDA's Monday approval of the antiretroviral drug Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV infection among people at risk of contracting the virus "was hailed by many as an important step in the fight against AIDS, concerns that people will incorrectly use the drug -- potentially spurring drug resistance -- led others to blast the agency for not laying down tougher rules," the Wall Street Journal's "Health Blog" writes.

18 Jul 2012

FDA approves Truvada as HIV prevention strategy for high-risk, uninfected individuals

The FDA on Monday announced the approval of the first drug for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV among people at risk of contracting the virus, "which some are calling a landmark in the fight against AIDS," ABC News reports.

18 Jul 2012