Investigators with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID) participated in the 2025 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in San Francisco, California, March 9-12. Following are some highlights.
In a CROI preview, Joe Eron, MD, was interviewed for the “Going Anti-Viral” IAS-USA podcast, discussing the state of HIV cure research and why it has been difficult to develop a cure for HIV, while explaining the difference between HIV cure and functional cure. He also offers an overview of cure research efforts looking at blocking and locking HIV in human DNA, while discussing the potential for “molecular scissors” (CRISPR-Cas9) to cure HIV.
Sunday, March 9
Dr. Eron also led the opening Scott M. Hammer Workshop: HIV Cure Research: State of the Art and Navigating Presentations at CROI 2025, for new investigators and trainees. Meanwhile, Cecilia Kanyama, MB, BS, (third from left below) was a panelist for the workshop: Antiretroviral Therapy: Case-Based Panel Discussion.
Monday, March 10
Nilu Goonatilleke, PhD, was interviewed by Contagion Live discussing two new studies, published with first author Cindy Gay, MD, MPH.
- The M&M Study: Age-Related T Cell Response in People with HIV on ART in MVA.HIVconsvX Vaccine Trial
- The CM Study: Bivalent HIV Vaccine Induces Stronger T Cell Responses in People with HIV on ART
Tuesday, March 11
- Sarah Rutstein, MD, PhD, presented the poster:
Developing Analytic Strategies to Investigate Long-Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Effectiveness
Other posters included:
- Nancie Archin, PhD, David Margolis, MD, and Ed Browne, PhD: A targeted CRISPR screen identifies ETS1 as a regulator of HIV latency
- David Margolis, MD, Edward Browne, PhD: NF-kB dependent Gene Expression and Plasma IL-1b, TNFa and GCSF drive transcriptomic diversity and CD4:CD8 Ratio in People with HIV on ART
- David Margolis, MD, Anne-Marie Turner, PhD, Nancie Archin, PhD, and Edward Browne, PhD: Characterization of the gastrointestinal-resident latent HIV-1 reservoir with single-cell RNA seq
- Weiming Tang, PhD: Digital Strategy to improve PrEP adherence among MSM: A Stepped-wedge Randomized Trial in China, and Leveraging Community to Provide PrEP to Key Population in China: Results From a PrEP Clinical Trial
- Cindy Gay, MD, Sofia Mariano, Caroline Baker, Susan Pedersen, Joe Eron, MD, David Margolis, MD, Michael Hudgens, PhD, and Nilu Goonetilleke, PhD: ChAdOx1.HIVconsvX and MVA.HIVconsvX Vaccination is Safe and Immunogenic in PWH on ART – THE CM STUDY
- Cindy Gay, MD, Sofia Mariano, Caroline Baker, Susan Pedersen, Joe Eron, MD, David Margolis, MD, Michael Hudgens, PhD, and Nilu Goonetilleke, PhD: Age inversely correlates with T cell response to MVA.HIVconsvX vaccination in PWH on ART– THE M&M STUDY
- Martina Kovarova, PhD: Development of a Two-Drug-Long-Acting Removable Formulation for HIV suppression
- Maganizo Chagomerano, MD: Engaging Male Partners of HIV-Pregnant Women in HIV Testing Using Oral HIV Self-Test
Wednesday, March 12
- Sarah Rutstein, MD, PhD, moderated the session: Expanding the Prevention Toolbox
The Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) was established in 1993 to provide a forum for basic scientists and clinical investigators to present, discuss, and critique their investigations into the epidemiology and biology of human retroviruses and associated diseases. CROI highlights the latest research in HIV, hepatitis viruses, SARS-CoV-2 (including long COVID), mpox, and their related conditions. The synergy of basic science and clinical investigation has been a major contributor to the success of the meeting. CROI has facilitated the presentation of important discoveries in the field, thereby accelerating progress in HIV and AIDS research.