ABSTRACT
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled HIV Vaccines, organized by Drs. Nicole A.
Doria-Rose, Thumbi Ndung'u and Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam. The conference will be held in Whistler, British
Columbia from March 24-28, 2019.
Despite dramatic progress in prevention and treatment of HIV, the pandemic continues, and two million people
are newly infected each year. Thus, the need for a preventive vaccine for HIV is as urgent as ever. Intensive
research in basic immunology and virology as well as empirical clinical trial data continues to yield insights that
inform vaccine efforts. The 2019 HIV Vaccines conference will present the latest results from human clinical
studies of candidate vaccines as well as the use of monoclonal antibodies for prevention; novel HIV
neutralizing antibodies and their developmental pathways; T cell functions in killing and B cell help; structural
insights and immunogen design; and the intersection of research for HIV eradication/cure with research on HIV
vaccines, including interventions after very early antiretroviral therapy. We will also include a session on the
process of bringing candidate vaccines to clinical trial, told from the diverse perspectives of laboratory
investigators, industrial production, funders, and clinical researchers on the front lines.