AIDS-Related Research Meetings, January and February 1995

This incomplete list is in order by starting date. Note that most of these meetings are intended for research specialists (including AIDS treatment activists), or for other healthcare professionals.

Retroviral Integrase: Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, A Novel Target for the Treatment of AIDS, January 19-20, Lister Hill Auditorium, National Institutes of Health.

This meeting, "to bring together academic and industry groups," is sponsored by several institutes/offices at NIH. For a copy of the brochure, call Technical Resources, Inc., 301/770-0610.

National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development, January 19, Holiday Inn, Bethesda, Maryland.

The mission of the National Task Force "is to insure that all aspects of AIDS drug development are rapidly taking place in a creative, coordinated manner, free of unnecessary barriers." So far the group has not done much, but that could change. Note additional listing for the meeting starting February 23, below.

The January 19 meeting will review the recommendations made to this point.

CPCRA (Terry Beirn Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS) 16th group meeting, January 25-27, Hyatt Regency Washington, Washington, D.C.

The first day is an orientation session for new groups; the regular meeting begins January 26. For more information, call Rii Conference Department, Silver Spring, Maryland, 301/565-4020.

FDA advisory committees meeting on Salk Immunogen, January 26.

See separate article in this issue of AIDS TREATMENT NEWS, page 1.

Third International Congress on Biological Response Modifiers, January 26-29, Cancun, Mexico.

This meeting is organized by the Inter-American Society for Chemotherapy. For registration information, contact Meetings Manager, CME, Inc., Princeton Junction, New Jersey, 609/799-2300, fax 609/275-8745.

HIV Immune-Based Therapies Workshop, January 27-29, Stouffer Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland.

For information, call Clinical Immunology Society, Thorofare, New Jersey, 609/848-1000 ext. 213.

The Second National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections, January 29 - February 2, 1995, Sheraton Washington Hotel, Washington, D.C.

This meeting is especially important this year, since there will be no International Conference on AIDS in 1995. Unfortunately it is also expensive (on-site registration $425), and as far as we know there are no scholarships for people with AIDS or HIV. AIDS TREATMENT NEWS and many other AIDS publications will be there and will publish reports.

Note: A satellite round-table meeting on protease inhibitors and drug resistance, organized too late to be on the program, is scheduled Feb. 2 at the conference hotel. The working title is, Protease: Resistance, Cross-Resistance, Implications for Monotherapy and Combination use, and Clinical Studies for 1995 and Beyond. Time and location will be announced on bulletin boards at the conference.

The Human Retroviruses conference is sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology, in Washington, D.C. For information, call their meeting hotline at 202/942-9356 (24 hours voicemail).

[Comment: A philosophical issue about the fight against AIDS in the current era is highlighted by the following, from the preliminary program of the Human Retroviruses conference: "It is hoped that this second conference, conducted in an atmosphere of scientific inquiry and collegiality, will catalyze free exchange of information and ideas and spawn new data and collaborative studies to hasten the understanding of these relatively new agents and their diseases." In other words, a meeting unchallenged by people with AIDS will spawn data and studies, it is hoped.]

HIV 7th National AIDS Update Conference, January 31 - February 3, Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco.

This is not primarily a research meeting, but a major continuing-education meeting for healthcare professionals. For more information, contact Krebs Convention Management Services, San Francisco, phone 415/255-1297, fax 415/255-2244.

Gene Therapy & Nucleic Acid Vaccine Strategies, February 16 and17, Hyatt Regency, Bethesda, Maryland.

Expensive and highly technical meeting on DNA vaccines, etc. for cancer, AIDS, other viruses. For information, contact IBC USA Conferences Inc., Southborough, Massachusetts, phone 508/481-6400, fax 508/481-7911.

ACTG (AIDS Clinical Trials Group) 19th meeting, February 18-22, Washington Renaissance Hotel, Washington, D.C.

This technical meeting of researchers participating in the largest AIDS clinical-trials network happens twice per year. For more information, call Rii Conference Department, Silver Spring, Maryland, 301/565-4020.

HIV Infection in Women: Setting a New Agenda, February 22-24, Sheraton Washington Hotel, Washington, D.C.

About 1500 experts are expected for this major conference, which will focus solely on adult and adolescent women with HIV. Sponsors include the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the Health Resources Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, and the Public Health Service Office on Women's Health.

For registration forms and additional information, contact the conference secretariat, phone 703/356-8376, fax 703/790-7237.

National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development, February 23-24, Holiday Inn, Bethesda, Maryland.

This meeting of the National Task Force will focus on protease inhibitors. Persons wishing to make a formal presentation should notify Jean H. McKay or Kimberley M. Miles, FDA Office of AIDS and Special Health Issues, 301/443-0104, by February 9, "and submit a brief statement of the general nature of the evidence or arguments they wish to present, the names and addresses of proposed participants, and an indication of the approximate time required to make their comments." A transcript will be available approximately 15 working days after the meeting.

Wasting Disorders: Molecular and Clinical Aspects, February 23-26, Bonaventure Resort and Spa, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

For information, contact Serono Symposia, USA, Norwell, Massachusetts, phone 800/283-8088 or 617/982-9000, fax 617/982-9481.