It’s considered one of the most important and most difficult scientific enterprises in the history of modern medicine—the hunt for an HIV vaccine.  It has led to vast knowledge of HIV and the immune system, and to breakthrough technology. But developing an effective HIV vaccine is still out of reach, while HIV incidence remains high in hard-hit places in the world. In this episode, Nina Russell of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation talks about where she sees promise in the science, the...

In this episode of PxPulse, we talk about why and how the decisions that shape global health must be made by those facing the greatest risks. As the world evaluates the pandemic response and debates on decolonizing global health gain momentum, equity in global health has never been more urgent.  This conversation features global health leader and critic, Dr. Madhukar Pai. And two members of the transnational coalition COMPASS Africa, Francis Luwole and Barbra Ncube, offer an up-close look at...

People who are pregnant or lactating (PLP) have historically been excluded from research because of concerns for the developing fetus. But this has led to a dearth of data on new interventions against health threats for this population. In the case of HIV, pregnancy raises the risk of acquiring HIV by up to three times, but providers often do not have the data to know whether a new intervention is safe or how it will work for pregnant patients. As a result, PLP and their physicians are left...

2023 is a big year for PEPFAR. PEPFAR’s considered one of the greatest US foreign policy and global development achievements of the century; the program has saved upwards of 25 million lives since it launched in 2003. But PEPFAR is marking its 20th anniversary while fighting for its future. Its authorization expires Sept. 30th. Until a couple of months ago, most expected smooth sailing for a five-year reauthorization of the program, which has enjoyed deep and broad bipartisan support since...

With several large HIV vaccine trials in the last few years finding no efficacy, the field is in transition. There are diverse ideas in vaccine research, but there's no clear concept that's ready to test in a late-phase trial or move toward product development currently. Researchers are back to testing new ideas in early-phase research. In this episode of our Px Pulse podcast, Dr. Katy Stephenson explores the implications of recent trial results, the big questions driving next-generation...

In March 2023, the Ugandan Parliament moved forward broad-reaching legislation to further criminalize LGBTQIA+ people.  The bill would make it a crime to even identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, with sentences up to life imprisonment. It gives authorities wide powers to crackdown on anyone who does not report on same-sex couples or who promote gay rights, including prohibitions on media coverage. And the law could impose death sentences in some cases, including for the...

Over the coming months, global leaders will make key decisions about several initiatives to prepare for the next pandemic. What they commit to and how much they will spend, and how well these plans incorporate equity as a principle across all of these initiatives, is in question. Deadlines for civil society to influence these decisions are coming up. There's a Pandemic Fund, a Pandemic Accord, several UN High-Level Meetings, and a Medical Countermeasures, or MCM, platform, which would...

Health leaders and advocates around the world are in the midst of creating a new architecture to deal with pandemics. This means new structures, systems and financing for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response — PPPR, for short. A lot is being discussed, and a lot more is riding on the decisions. Chris Collins, the CEO and President at Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and an AVAC co-founder, has been tracking this work. He’s warned of the risk of...

With all the talk about new HIV prevention products such as the dapivirine vaginal ring or injectable cabotegravir for PrEP, what’s little understood is how to match proven products with programs, policies and the political will that's needed to get these products to the people who need them. PEPFAR Ambassador Dr. John Nkengasong shares his plan for meeting the moment. Also in this episode, seasoned advocates take on what's working and what's missing in programs today, and the expanding role...

In this episode, AVAC’s Jeanne Baron and co-host immunologist Katharine Kripke of AVENIR Health explore why developing a vaccine for HIV is different from other viruses.  Two vaccine researchers, Caltech’s Pamela Bjorkman and IAVI’s Vincent Kioi, lend their expertise.  Learn how HIV has evolved like no other virus that exists today to escape detection by the immune system. Learn why the right target on HIV is so hard to reach and how scientists are tackling it all.

 Linda-Gail Bekker from South Africa’s Desmond Tutu Health Foundation and Lillian Mworeko from the International Community of Women Living with HIV East Africa (ICWEA) join host Jeanne Baron and AVAC’s Executive Director Mitchell Warren to discuss innovative models for scale-up and delivery. Taking the right steps now could mean HIV prevention options fulfill their life-saving, epidemic-ending potential. It will require working faster and more efficiently than ever before. We dive into what...

Endpoints are a crucial component in every clinical trial but they are not always well understood, and putting them in context is essential for effective advocacy.  This next installment of the Px Pulse series, Research Fundamentals, which explores key scientific concepts, lays out what endpoints are and why they matter. 

The latest episode of Px Pulse goes behind the scenes of the new HBO movie, The Legend of the Underground. The film documents the lives of AVACer Micheal Ighodaro and other LGBTQ Nigerians as they confront enormous risks to ‘live out loud’. 

The latest episode of Px Pulse takes a deep dive into PEPFAR, The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. AVAC’s former Director of Strategy and Content, Emily Bass, has just published To End a Plague: America’s fight to end AIDS in Africa which documents its pioneering successes and its challenges. 

AVACers Jeanne Baron and Daisy Ouya talk to leading bNAb researcher, IAVI’s Devin Sok; a veteran HIV research advocate Mark Hubbard who served on AMP’s protocol team; and a senior member of the HVTN’s community engagement team, a chief explainer of the AMP trials, Gail Broder. Together, we explore why these findings point to the need for combination antibodies, the need for a better understanding of the types of HIV that are circulating in a community, the complicated implications of a key...

Early results from trials testing cabotegravir as a long-acting injectable PrEP show it was safe and highly effective against HIV. Listen to learn what must come next for CAB-LA to advance HIV prevention alongside oral PrEP and the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring?

After decades of research and advocacy, the ring is now one step closer to becoming available as a discreet, woman-initiated HIV prevention option. 

Whether it’s condoms, a flu shot, oral PrEP or the dapivirine vaginal ring, proven products fall short of 100 percent protection against disease, and there’s a lot to know about how and why an intervention may offer imperfect but still useful protection. This episode is part of a new series on Px Pulse, Research Fundamentals

In this episode of Px Pulse (https://www.avac.org/px-pulse) , hear unique perspectives on how COVID-19 and HIV are shaping one another.  Mark Feinberg (https://www.iavi.org/about/board-of-directors/mark-feinberg) , CEO of IAVI (https://www.iavi.org/) , and Helen Rees (http://www.wrhi.ac.za/expertise/detail/professor-helen-rees) , Executive Director of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (http://www.wrhi.ac.za/) (Wits RHI), speak to COVID-19 vaccine development.  Sinead...

AVAC puts a spotlight on HVTN 702 (https://www.avac.org/trial/hvtn-702) . Data show the vaccine tested is safe, but in a major disappointment for the field, vaccinations were stopped early after a scheduled review showed it did not offer protection. In this episode, learn how much there is still be learned from HVTN 702; from data still to be gathered and from strong community engagement. 

With unmet UNAIDS “Fast-Track” targets (https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/909090) for ending the epidemic now a reality, the field faces the sobering truth. We’ve been striving towards the 90-90-90 treatment targets without an equal commitment to primary prevention targets (https://www.avac.org/infographic/unaids-fast-track-targets-plan-and-progress) .    In this episode of Px Pulse, AVAC’s Emily Bass (https://www.avac.org/staff#bass) , lead author of our repot Now What?...

A look at what’s different and what’s the same between F/TDF (Truvada) and F/TAF (Descovy), what’s driving innovation in the proposed trial design, why it's so essential for advocates to engage and more.  

Breaking the Cycle of Transmission (https://www.prepwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BreakingCycleTransmission_Oct2017.pdf) , a human-centered design (https://www.designforhealth.org/)  (HCD) project, is shedding new light on how to bring HIV prevention to adolescent girls and young women.