This year's autumn conference included parallel sessions with the Children’s HIV Association and was preceded by the Fourth Annual Conference for the Management of HIV / Hepatitis Co-infection. Delegate feedback reported that the programme was varied, with many interesting presentations and relevant to delegate’s professional and educational needs. In total 647 delegates attended the conference. This number included 10 BHIVA scholarship winners and over 50 community registration places.

'Conference overall exceeded my expectations'

'Best Autumn Conference I can recall'

'Good scientific standard but also excellent for meeting people and networking'

Prof Jane Anderson, Chair, BHIVA

Dr Mark Nelson, Conference Local Host

Dr Ed Wilkins, Conference Subcommittee Chair

Conference Programme

The conference programme covered a wide range of topics relevant to HIV, with a focus on HIV/hepatitis co-infection, PrEP, disclosure of HIV and lectures on best practice management of patients living with HIV. The BHIVA Foundation Lecture explored ‘The impact of the global recession on HIV and AIDS.’ The BHIVA Guidelines Session looked at ‘Treatment of HIV-1-infected adults with antiretroviral therapy’ and ‘Management of HIV infection in pregnant women. Our international speakers included Dr Andri Rauch, Professor Barbara McGovern, Dr Pierre Corbeau, Dr Rachel Baggaley and Professor Bob Grant.

Dr Pierre Corbeau, France

Dr Rachel Baggaley, Switzerland

Professor Bob Grant, USA

Acknowledgements and Thank Yous

During the conference a formal thank you was made by the Chair of the British HIV Association to the full BHIVA Conference Subcommittee. In addition the below Committee Members were presented with gifts of appreciation:

(Left to right) Professor Jane Anderson with Dr Mark Nelson, Dr Ed Wilkins, Professor Clifford Leen, Professor Margaret Johnson, Professor Brian Gazzard and Dr David Asboe.

Events

As usual, a drinks reception was held on the Thursday evening of conference and this event was well attended and enjoyed by all.

Prizes and Awards

Two awards were presented at this year’s Autumn Conference; the Brian Gazzard Lectureship in HIV Medicine and the Gilead / BHIVA SpR Research Award.

Brian Gazzard Lectureship in HIV Medicine

Professor Brian Gazzard presents Dr Mas Chaponda with a commemorative trophy bowl and engraved pen in recognition of his Lectureship Award.

The lectureship was set up by BHIVA in honour of its Founding Chair, Professor Brian Gazzard, and is now in its 7th year. The lecture is selected to be presented from a short list of proposed topics and eminent speakers put forward for consideration by the BHIVA Conferences Subcommittee.

This annual prize was awarded to Dr Mas Chaponda, Specialist Registrar at the Department of Pharmacology, University of Liverpool, for his presentation 'Gender, genomes and antiretroviral hypersensitivity'’.

Gilead / BHIVA Specialist Registrar Research Award

Dr Keith Aizen (Gilead Sciences) (left) and Professor Clifford Leen (right) present Dr Kate Childs (centre) with the BHIVA / Gilead SpR Research Award for 2011.

This prize has been set up to provide financial support for an HIV-related research project undertaken by a doctor at the Specialist Registrar (SpR) grade as part of professional training. Trainees in all medical specialties are required to undertake a period of research as an integral part of their higher professional training. However, funding such research is not always easy. Research proposals are invited for submission and reviewed by a BHIVA-appointed panel. The winning submission is awarded a sum of £2,000 to facilitate their high-quality research.

Dr Kate Childs, a specialist registrar at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was presented the award in 2011 towards her research submission entitled 'Levels of Vitamin D and IP-10 in HIV/HCV co-infected individuals: does antiretroviral therapy make a difference?'