This year's Annual Conference was held at the Bournemouth International Centre. The conference was again successful and received very positive feedback from delegates. The unusually high temperatures and sunny weather conditions for early April provided delegates with three days of glorious sunshine and scenic views of the beautiful Bournemouth coastline.

Despite the tempting conditions outside, the interesting scientific programme kept delegates in the lecture theatre throughout the duration of the conference. There were 722 delegates registered for the conference and this number included 36 BHIVA Scholarship winners and 43 Community Registration places.

Events

As usual, a social event was held on each evening of the conference. These events were well attended and enjoyed by all.

Civic Welcome Reception

The Welcome Reception was held on the first evening of the conference among the exhibition stands at the Bournemouth International Centre. This was preceded by a Civic Welcome in the lecture theatre with a speech to welcome delegates from Dr Kate Schroeder (Conference Local Host), followed by The Worshipful Mayor of Bournemouth, Councillor Barry Goldbart, who kindly agreed to speak. During the Mayor’s speech a moment’s silence was requested to pay tribute to the late Elizabeth Taylor, who the Mayor said had contributed hugely to fighting stigma associated with HIV and AIDS. Speeches were concluded by Dr Ian Williams (Chair, British HIV Association) who said a few words of thanks and invited delegates to the exhibition hall to be serenaded by the sounds of a local jazz band and for a drinks reception. The reception provided an opportunity for delegates to meet each other whilst enjoying a drink and some light refreshments.

Gala Dinner

This year's Gala Dinner was an impressive event held at the O2 Academy in Boscombe. The event started with a drinks reception, which was followed by an excellent dinner. Speeches were made by Dr David Asboe (Treasurer, British HIV Association) and Dr Andrew Freedman (Secretary, British HIV Association) to congratulate the outstanding achievements of outgoing-Chair Dr Ian Williams. Dr Williams then said a few words about his time at BHIVA and thanked the Executive Committee for their support and commitment during his period as Chair of the Association. Dr Ian Williams formally thanked Dr Kate Schroeder (Local Host) and Dr Ed Wilkins (Conference Subcommittee Chair) and then formally handed over the Chairship of the British HIV Association to Professor Jane Anderson. To conclude the evening’s events, after-dinner entertainment was provided by Eighties tribute band the Unusual Suspects, who proved a hit in bringing everyone to the dance floor.

Prizes and Awards

Research excellence was again reflected by the breadth and depth of oral and poster research presentations at this year’s conference. Of 274 abstracts submitted, 245 were selected for presentation – 33 as oral presentations and 212 as poster presentations – by the Abstract Review Committee, which comprised members from BHIVA’s Education and Scientific, and Conferences subcommittees as well other members of the Association, who were invited to participate due to their relevant specialties. All selected abstracts are published in HIV Medicine (2011, 12 Suppl 1), and available to download here.

Click here to view the full list of this year's prize winners. Pictured below are some of the winners.

Margaret Johnson Best Oral Research Presentation
This annual prize is awarded to the presenter of the best oral research presentation at the annual conference. This year’s winner, Dr Lucy Garvey (Imperial College London); centre, is pictured with Professor Jane Anderson (Chair, BHIVA; left) and Dr Ian Williams (outgoing Chair, BHIVA; right). Dr Garvey won the prize for her presentation of "Features of neurocognitive performance in over 100 neurologically-asymptomatic HIV-Infected adults receiving combination antiretroviral therapy (cART)” (Abstract O5).

Best Poster Presentation
This prize is awarded to the presenter of the best poster research presentation at the conference. This year’s winner, Dr Tristan Barber (Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London); centre, is pictured with Dr Ian Williams (outgoing Chair, BHIVA; left) and Professor Jane Anderson (Chair, BHIVA; right). Dr Barber won the prize for his presentation of "Prevalence and predictors of protease inhibitor (PI) mutations in HIV-infected UK adults treated with ritonavir boosted lopinavir as their first PI” (Abstract P176).

Abbott Travelling Scholarships in collaboration with BHIVA and St Stephen’s AIDS Trust
Pictured from left to right are: Dr Ian Williams (outgoing Chair, BHIVA), Professor Jane Anderson (Chair, BHIVA), Dr Eva Muthamia (Kenya), Dr Esther Achan (Uganda) and Ms Emma Childs (Abbott). Abbott provides scholarships to practising HIV doctors from resource-poor countries to travel to the UK for training purposes and to attend the Annual BHIVA Conference. The objective is to increase their understanding of the treatment and management of HIV and for them to disseminate this information on returning to their country of origin.

Mediscript Award
Owing to its long association with BHIVA, Mediscript has provided this annual award for the two best oral or poster research presentations during the conference in the fields of social sciences or community-based work.

The awards were given to Dr Tanya Welz (King’s College Hospital NHS Trust, London) for the poster presentation “Ch@tspace – a novel patient internet forum for users of a large, multi-ethnic HIV clinic” (Abstract P130) and Dr Kalpana Sabapathy (Hillingdon Hospital, London) for the oral presentation “An audit of care provision for Immigration Removal Centre patients” (Abstract O14). Pictured from left to right are: Dr Tanya Welz, Dr Ian Williams (outgoing Chair, BHIVA), Professor Jane Anderson (Chair, BHIVA) and Dr Kalpana Sabapathy.