Research excellence was again reflected by the breadth and depth of oral and poster research presentations at the BHIVA Annual Conference. Of those abstracts submitted, 235 were selected for presentation – 30 as oral presentations and 202 as poster presentations. All selected abstracts are published in HIV Medicine (2015, Volume 16 Supplement 2), 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.

BHIVA/AbbVie/SSAT (BASS) Exchange Scholarships

AbbVie in collaboration with the British HIV Association (BHIVA) and the St Stephen's AIDS Trust (SSAT) have set up an exchange scholarship for UK-based Specialist Registrars (SpRs) and Specialty Registrars (StRs) who are training in the field of HIV medicine and who are also BHIVA members. The exchange scholarship will enable winning applicants to travel to a developing or transition country to take part in a placement at an HIV unit for up to 2 weeks. It is anticipated that the programme will provide a unique opportunity to increase understanding of the treatment and management of HIV in the developing world and for scholars to disseminate this information and experience when they return to the UK.

In exchange, an overseas scholar from a developing or transition country will travel to the UK to take part in a placement at an HIV centre or hospital. The winners of the award this year were as follows:

• Dr Clifford George Banda, Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme

• Dr Megan Keira Crofts, Bristol Sexual Health Clinic

• Dr Lakshmi Jain, Central and North West London Hospitals NHS Trust

• Dr Tafara Moga, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Zimbabwe

Left to Right: Dr David Asboe, Dr Megan Keira Crofts, Dr Lakshmi Jain, Dr Clifford George Banda, Dr Tafara Moga,
Ms Melinda Bertwistle (AbbVie representative), Dr Adrian Palfreeman

MSD International Travel Bursaries in collaboration with BHIVA (CROI 2015)

MSD Ltd in collaboration with the British HIV Association made provision for 8 scholarship awards to be made available to assist healthcare professionals (BHIVA Members only) to attend the 22nd Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held in Seattle, Washington USA on 23-26 February 2015. The winners of the award this year were as follows:

• Dr Joanne Baxter, North Manchester General Hospital

• Dr Emilie Elliot, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London

• Dr Stuart Flanagan, The Royal London Hospital

• Dr Anna Goodman, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London

• Dr Goli Haidari, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London

• Dr Jennifer Leighton, Central Manchester University Hospital NHS Foundation

• Ms Nadia Naous, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London

• Dr Jonathan Underwood, Imperial College, London

Left to Right: Dr David Asboe, Dr Goli Haidari, Dr Jonathan Underwood, Ms Nadia Naous, Dr Stuart Flanagan, Dr Emilie Elliot, Dr Jennifer Leighton, Mr James Suares (MSD representative), Dr Adrian Palfreeman

Mediscript Awards in collaboration with BHIVA

Owing to its long association with BHIVA, two prizes were awarded by Mediscript for the best oral or poster research presentation during the conference in the field of social sciences and community-based work.

BHIVA Best Case Presentations

The Ian Williams Best Poster Presentation Award

This prize was awarded to the presenter of the best poster research presentation during the conference. Poster research presentations were judged by a BHIVA-appointed poster research judging panel, and to be eligible for this prize the presenter had to be of junior grade (sub-consultant or equivalent).

The Margaret Johnson Best Oral Presentation Award

This prize was awarded to the presenter of the best oral research presentation during the conference. All oral research presentations were judged by a BHIVA-appointed oral research judging panel, and to be eligible for this prize the presenter must be of junior grade (sub-consultant or equivalent).