Analytical treatment interruptions in HIV cure research

Sharon Lewin is an infectious diseases physician and basic scientist and has worked in HIV-related clinical medicine and research for over 25 years. She is Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. The Doherty Institute has over 850 staff working on infection and immunity through research, education and public health, and has a significant focus on virology, including HIV. She is an active clinician, working at the Alfred Hospital and Royal Melbourne Hospital, and a Melbourne Laureate Professor of Medicine at the University of Melbourne.

Sharon is internationally recognized for her expertise in HIV cure, HIV-hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection and SARS-CoV-2 infection. She leads a large group focused on basic and translational science and early-phase clinical trials for cure interventions and is actively developing antiviral strategies for novel RNA viruses using RNA editing. She collaborates widely, including a long-standing partnership with researchers in Thailand on living with both HIV and HBV, and is a co-PI on DARE, a large NIH-funded network of researchers working on HIV cure. She has published over 350 manuscripts, predominately related to HIV cure and understanding HIV disease and related conditions, including HBV, cryptococcal infection and cytomegalovirus. She is also active in COVID-19 research. The Doherty Institute was the first to isolate SARS-CoV-2 and share the virus globally.

She has been an IAS Member since 2007, when she was Deputy Chair of IAS 2007 in Sydney. As Local Co-Chair for AIDS 2014 in Melbourne, she leveraged significant in-kind and financial support from the Australian and Victorian Governments and the city of Melbourne. With her Australian colleagues, she led several advocacy programmes in relation to AIDS 2014, which resulted in every Australian state health minister signing a declaration to see the end of new HIV acquisitions in Australia by 2020. She is the key opinion leader for Melbourne as a UNAIDS Fast-Track City. She chairs the Advisory Board for the IAS Towards an HIV Cure initiative, and with Steve Deeks, co-chairs the annual IAS workshop on HIV cure and the HIV cure research academies.

Her work has been recognized with the following major awards:

Melburnian of the Year (2014), awarded to a role model who has made an outstanding contribution to the city in their field, as well as a significant contribution to the community

Peter Wills Medal (2015), awarded by Research Australia to an Australian who has made an outstanding contribution to building Australia’s reputation in health and medical research, and fostering collaboration for better health

Officer of the Order of Australia (2019) for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia in the field of infectious diseases and HIV and AIDS

Committee for Melbourne Achiever Award (2020) for making a major contribution to the city of Melbourne, which will transform its future

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (2020) of Australia Outstanding Contribution Award

She was a member of the council of the NHMRC, the peak funding body for medical research in Australia, and chaired its Health Translation Advisory Committee (2016-2021). She is a member of the Governing Board of the International Coalition for the Elimination of Hepatitis B virus (ICE-HBV) and the executive of the Global Virology Network. She was previously President of the Australian Society for HIV Medicine. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Vaccine Research Centre at the NIH and President of the Scientific Advisory Board of the newly formed ANRS/MIE (Maladies Infectiouses Emergentes) in France.

Josephine Nabukenya has lived with HIV for 26 years. She works at Makerere University Johns Hopkins University Research Collaboration as a youth programme coordinator for psychosocial activities. She supports the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) as an ambassador for psychosocial activities in south-western Uganda and advocate for better treatment options and psychosocial support on international platforms. She is also a national trainer of the Young Adolescent Peer Support (YAPS) model in Uganda, supporting the Ministry of Health to design, plan, implement and evaluate a standardized peer-led model with lessons learnt from the Community Adolescent Treatment Supporter (CATS) model in Zimbabwe.

Josephine holds a Bachelor’s in social sciences from Makerere University and has attended life-changing courses, such as Leading Change from the University of Cambridge as a Queen’s Young Leader. She has experience in designing, planning, implementing and evaluating psychosocial activities, such as international and local advocacy and addressing the US Congress at the age of 12 in 2005 about the needs of children living with HIV. She has won grants on resource mobilization from: the Global Youth Empowerment Fund (USD 2,500 to hold viral load camps for virally unsuppressed adolescents); ViiV Healthcare (GBP 50,000 to hold regional camps for virally unsuppressed adolescents aimed at achieving viral load suppression through peer-led discussions and sharing life experiences); and IAS and AVAC (USD 15,000 to provide accurate information about HIV cure strategies through on-site facility sessions and animated short video clips to share on different social media platforms targeting adolescents and young people). Other activities include conducting monthly peer support groups, school and community outreaches, and exchange visits with other treatment centres.

Josephine has been involved in IAS activities and conferences since 2016. That year, at AIDS 2016 in Durban, she shared her story of living and staying healthy at a satellite event organized by EGPAF and other organizations. At AIDS 2018, she participated in several key events, including sharing the importance of psychosocial support on platforms like “Pass the Mic”, moderated by actor Charlize Theron. She co-moderated a panel, “The power of peer-led services”, with youth panellists from Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. At IAS 2019, she participated in a morning news broadcast show, sharing her insight into the conference and the involvement of young people. Josephine was selected as an IAS Youth Ambassador and fully participated in a training programme in grants and abstract writing.

Dr Jillian Lau is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and an Infectious Diseases Physician in Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on studying strategies to cure HIV, including immunotherapy and latency reversal agents. Her PhD studied analytical treatment interruptions (temporary pauses in HIV treatment in the context of a clinical trial) and her postdoctoral research explores factors associated with viral control off treatment. She is passionate about the meaningful engagement of people with HIV in Cure focused research.

Thumbi Ndung’u is the Director for Basic and Translational Science at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban, South Africa; the Programme Director for the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE); and Professor of Infectious Diseases at University College London, UK.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, completed a PhD from Harvard University, USA and performed post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School.

His research focuses on understanding interactions between HIV and the immune system and how these may be harnessed and translated for HIV prevention or cure.

Miskat Rahman is a poet, activist, and writer with an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. He can often be found performing slam poetry at The Bowery Poetry Club. Miskat is also an avid queer rights activist involved in the Reclaim Pride Coalition. He is currently a staff writer for Gamepress where he writes about competitive Pokémon.

Deborah Persaud is Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and the director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. She holds appointments in international health and molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Persaud leads a translational research program focused on HIV-1 reservoirs and ART-free remission and cure for pediatric populations. She is the scientific chair of the HIV Cure Scientific Committee of the International Maternal, Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network, and Co-PI for the Pediatric Adolescent Virus Elimination Martin Delaney Collaboratory.

Violet Korutaro, a Ugandan medical doctor and research investigator, is dedicated to improving maternal and child health. She works at the Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Uganda Clinical Research Site (CRS #31798). She actively participates in various research projects and has been the site Principal Investigator for fundamental studies such as IMPAACT 2009, IMPAACT 2010 (VESTED study), and IMPAACT 2017 (MOCHA study) and an investigator for IMPAACT P1115. Dr. Korutaro’s proficiency in diagnosing and treating tropical diseases, along with her expertise in HIV/AIDS care, makes her an invaluable asset to research teams.