About HIV Persistence during Therapy Workshop

The International Workshop on HIV Persistence during Therapy is, historically, the first meeting centered on HIV reservoirs. In 2003, a group of researchers understood the need for a regular rendez-vous aimed at confronting the data from basic science to clinical science.

The HIV reservoirs were just described at the end of 1997 and it was clear that they were the main obstacles toward HIV eradication. At that time it was not a research priority and most groups were rather interested by the management of cART side effects.

However, in 2005 for the second edition of the workshop were presented by David Margolis the first results of a clinical trial using HDAC inhibitors to purge the HIV reservoir.

In 2009, at the fourth edition was presented the case of the Berlin patient who fuelled hope in the field of HIV cure.

Mechanisms of HIV persistence and new strategies toward HIV eradication became the top priority for research agencies and governments. Since its start, the workshop welcomed the main leaders in the field for oral and poster presentations of unpublished work, with the support of NIH and ANRS.

Growing from 90 to 250 participants in 2013, it was recognized as the reference workshop on HIV reservoirs and cure by the scientific community.

The members of the Steering and Scientific Committees are well renowned scientists publishing regularly in high impact journals.

Over it four days the workshop goes from basic to clinical science, flicking virologic, immunologic and pharmacologic aspects of HIV persistence.

It is attended by basic science researchers, virologists, immunologists and clinicians who represent a working group on HIV reservoirs with continued exchanges between 2 meetings.

In the future we are proud to make the workshop even better by increasing time for discussion and involving the experience of other field than HIV that could help finding a solution.

The great force of the meeting is that it is independent of any doctrine and dedicated only to progress.

If you speak to participants, they will all tell you that their preference goes for the HIV Persistence Workshop rather to several ‘copies’ that were developed during the years.