Towards a truly global HIV cure Session 2: Opportunities and challenges in reservoir and persistence measurement

Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), infectious disease physician of the General Hospital of Acute Diseases Dr. Juan A. Fernández, of the City of Buenos Aires, and secretary of the Hepatitis Commission of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI). She is a professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), infectious disease physician of the General Hospital of Acute Diseases Dr. Juan A. Fernández, of the City of Buenos Aires, and secretary of the Hepatitis Commission of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI). She is a professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

Rose Nabatanzi is currently a lecturer in the department of Immunology and Molecular Biology as well as a laboratory scientist in the department of of Immunology and Molecular Biology Makerere University College of Health Sciences. She has 18 years of experience in biomedical HIV research and academia. She is interested in conducting translational research in Immunology of infectious diseases particularly HIV and its co-infections. She holds the The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) career development award and the CFAR AFRICURE award to look at the characteristics of the HIV-1 reservoir among ART-treated HIV infected individuals in Uganda. She would like to explore potential drivers of persistent immune abnormalities looking at the role played by the HIV-1 reservoir among antiretroviral therapy (ART) treated people. She is focusing on utilizing her research experience to answer questions relevant to improvement of HIV treatment outcomes, remission and cure.

I am Postdoctoral Fellow in Prof Sarah Palmer’s team at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Australia. My research focuses on the HIV proviral landscape during ART and how the TB-associated microenvironment impacts HIV latency and the effectiveness of the HIV-specific CD8 T cell response.

Melissa-Rose is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Medical Virology at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. Her postgraduate studies in Virology, also at UCT, began in the characterization of poxviruses and later transitioned to investigating the HIV transmission bottleneck. She obtained her PhD in 2014, investigating the evolution of transmitted HIV-1 in women from KwaZulu-Natal with differing disease progression profiles.
She currently overseas an HIV Cure research program at UCT, which includes studies characterizing the size and timing of establishment of the latent HIV reservoir and identifying viral factors that drive viral persistence, with a particular focus on African women.

Gabriela Cromhout is a medical doctor from South Africa, who is currently working in Paediatric Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Research in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa – with a particular focus on and interest in HIV cure and TB-HIV treatment research. Gabriela is the Clinical Co-ordinator of the Ucwaningo Lwabantwana (‘Baby Cure’) Study and also works as one of the Study Clinicians on the study, as well as the Study Clinician on the UKZN-CAPRISA ORCHID Study. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and completed her MSc in Tropical Medicine and International Health and DTM&H at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2020. Gabriela’s work and studies focus on her pursuit to further research and knowledge towards an HIV cure.

Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), infectious disease physician of the General Hospital of Acute Diseases Dr. Juan A. Fernández, of the City of Buenos Aires, and secretary of the Hepatitis Commission of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI). She is a professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

Rose Nabatanzi is currently a lecturer in the department of Immunology and Molecular Biology as well as a laboratory scientist in the department of of Immunology and Molecular Biology Makerere University College of Health Sciences. She has 18 years of experience in biomedical HIV research and academia. She is interested in conducting translational research in Immunology of infectious diseases particularly HIV and its co-infections. She holds the The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) career development award and the CFAR AFRICURE award to look at the characteristics of the HIV-1 reservoir among ART-treated HIV infected individuals in Uganda. She would like to explore potential drivers of persistent immune abnormalities looking at the role played by the HIV-1 reservoir among antiretroviral therapy (ART) treated people. She is focusing on utilizing her research experience to answer questions relevant to improvement of HIV treatment outcomes, remission and cure.

I am Postdoctoral Fellow in Prof Sarah Palmer’s team at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Australia. My research focuses on the HIV proviral landscape during ART and how the TB-associated microenvironment impacts HIV latency and the effectiveness of the HIV-specific CD8 T cell response.

Melissa-Rose is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Medical Virology at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. Her postgraduate studies in Virology, also at UCT, began in the characterization of poxviruses and later transitioned to investigating the HIV transmission bottleneck. She obtained her PhD in 2014, investigating the evolution of transmitted HIV-1 in women from KwaZulu-Natal with differing disease progression profiles.
She currently overseas an HIV Cure research program at UCT, which includes studies characterizing the size and timing of establishment of the latent HIV reservoir and identifying viral factors that drive viral persistence, with a particular focus on African women.

Gabriela Cromhout is a medical doctor from South Africa, who is currently working in Paediatric Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Research in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa – with a particular focus on and interest in HIV cure and TB-HIV treatment research. Gabriela is the Clinical Co-ordinator of the Ucwaningo Lwabantwana (‘Baby Cure’) Study and also works as one of the Study Clinicians on the study, as well as the Study Clinician on the UKZN-CAPRISA ORCHID Study. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and completed her MSc in Tropical Medicine and International Health and DTM&H at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2020. Gabriela’s work and studies focus on her pursuit to further research and knowledge towards an HIV cure.