Annual Symposium on Nonhuman Primates - PROJECT SUMMARY With this R13 application, we request funding to support, in part, the costs for planning, publicizing, and hosting the 42nd, 43rd, and 44th Annual Symposia on Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS. For more than four decades, this symposium has served as the premier scientific forum for the exchange of information, including new research findings and scientific perspectives, among HIV/AIDS investigators whose research includes studies in nonhuman primates (NHPs). Disseminating the latest research findings in NHP models of AIDS while also facilitating discussion and exchange of information between basic scientists and clinicians remains a priority, as do focusing on emerging technologies to accelerate translation of NHP studies into the clinic and engaging a broader and more diverse group of researchers in HIV/AIDS research in NHP models. This meeting, the only one of its kind in the world, convenes an international group of scientists whose research focuses on the study of natural and experimental immunodeficiency virus infections in NHPs, as well as on the development of novel therapeutics, prophylactic vaccines for HIV, and curative approaches. Emerging topics in related infectious diseases (such as COVID-19 pathogenesis, vaccines and treatment) may also be included. The seven National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) host this meeting in rotation, and upcoming symposia hosts will be the Wisconsin (2025), Southwest (2026), and Washington (2027) NPRCs. We plan a hybrid format with most participants attending in person and others joining online to access oral and poster sessions. The conference will begin on day 1 with registration, a keynote address by a leading HIV/AIDS researcher, and an evening reception. The following two and a half days will include scientific presentations from invited speakers and accepted oral abstracts. Each symposium scientific committee will select session topics and speakers to highlight new and cutting-edge technologies in their respective fields. Each session will open with a 30-minute talk by an invited chair. Individuals whose abstracts are accepted for oral presentations will give the remaining session talks. A poster session will occur on the evening of day 2, and there will be a banquet on the evening of day 3. As is traditional for this symposium, the Journal of Medical Primatology will publish all poster and oral abstracts in a special issue. In partnership with the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the NHP AIDS Symposium will also host a pre-symposium meeting for early-stage investigators (ESI). This meeting will be open to the attendees of a linked ESI Conference the HVTN sponsors. ESI attendees and mentors will focus on grant writing, budgeting, and networking, and will participate in a Q&A with NIH Program Officers. We believe bringing together researchers from a variety of diverse backgrounds will generate future collaborations and scientific advances. Knowledge shared and gained at upcoming Annual Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS Symposia will further the continued, effective use of NHP models to maintain long term control of HIV replication in the absence of antiretroviral therapy and to design interventions to prevent or eradicate HIV infection.
