This year's BHIVA Autumn Conference was once again held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in the heart of London. The conference was considered extremely successful and received very positive feedback from delegates. As customary the autumn conference included parallel sessions with the Children's HIV Association and was preceded by the Sixth Annual Conference for the Management of HIV / Hepatitis Co-infection in collaboration with BASL and BVHG. Delegate feedback reported that the programme contained many interesting and thought provoking presentations and that these were highly relevant to the professional and educational needs of the audience. A record number of 701 delegates attended the conference. This number included 10 BHIVA scholarship winners and over 50 community registration places.
'Consistently good – best in 15 years'
'Thank you for the opportunity of letting community organisations participate'
'Overall an excellent conference'
Dr David Asboe, Chair, BHIVA |
Dr Simon Edwards, Conference Local Host |
Conference Programme
The conference programme covered a wide range of topics relevant to HIV. The BHIVA Foundation Lecture explored ' Microbial translocation and its role in HIV and viral hepatitis.' The BHIVA Guidelines Session looked at 'Treatment of HIV-1-infected adults with antiretroviral therapy', ‘When to start ARV treatment: why the difference in guideline recommendations?’ and 'App software for BHIVA Guidelines’. Our international speakers included Dr Daniel Douek, Dr Giovanni Guaraldi, Professor Philippe van de Perre and Professor Jens Lundgren.
Dr Daniel Douek, USA |
Dr Giovanni Guaraldi, Italy |
Professor Jens Lundgren, Denmark |
Acknowledgements and Thank You's
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 following Committee Members were presented with gifts of appreciation:
Professor Jane Anderson, Retiring BHIVA Chair
Dr Simon Edwards, Conference Local Host
Professor Martin Fisher, Retiring Guidelines Subcommittee Chair
Dr David Asboe, Retiring Conference Subcommittee Chair
(Left to right) Dr David Asboe with Professor Clifford Leen, Professor Jane Anderson and Dr Adrian Palfreeman
Dr David Asboe with Dr Simon Edwards |
Dr David Asboe with Dr Duncan Churchill (on behalf of Professor Martin Fisher) |
Dr David Asboe with Dr Adrian Palfreeman |
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
There were a number of awards presented at this year's Autumn Conference; the BMS Exchange Scholarships in collaboration with BHIVA, HIVPA and SAHIVCS, the Gilead / BHIVA SpR Research Award, the Brian Gazzard Lectureship in HIV Medicine, and the BHIVA Don Jeffries Research Award.
BMS supported 6 exchange scholarships and the scholarship programme included a placement for 3 BHIVA Members at Hospitals in Botswana for two weeks. In addition, the South African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHIVCS) selected three clinicians to come to the UK to take part in clinical attachments for two weeks in hospitals in London.
BMS representatives Mr Joel Myers and Mrs Francesca Rothwell and BHIVA Chair Dr David Asboe presented the BMS Botswana Exchange Scholarship winners (in collaboration with BHIVA, HIVPA and SAHIVCS) with a certificate in recognition of their scholarship. From left: Mr Joel Myers, Dr Abhilash Sathyamoorthi, Ms Tuelo Ramaolo, Dr Gurmit Jagjit Singh, Dr Padmasayee Papineni, Dr Lesego Kuate, Ms Dola Awoyemi, Mrs Francesca Rothwell and Dr David Asboe.
BHIVA winning scholars
Dr Gurmit Jagjit Singh, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London
Dr Padmasayee Papineni, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London
Ms Dola Awoyemi, Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
SAHIVCS winning scholars
Dr Lesego Kuate, Princess Marina Hospital, Gaborone, Botswana
Dr Abhilash Sathyamoorthi, Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence, Gaborone, Botswana
Ms Tuelo Ramaolo, Associated Fund Administrators, Gaborone, Botswana
Dr Vitor Papao (Gilead Sciences) (left), Dr David Asboe (second right) and Dr Adrian Palfreeman (right) present Dr Kirsty Le Doare (centre) and Dr Helena White (second left) with the BHIVA / Gilead SpR Research Award for 2013.
This prize was established 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 up to £2,000 to facilitate their high-quality research.
There were two recipients of the award in 2013. Dr Kirsty Le Doare from St George's Hospital Medical School received the award towards her research project entitled 'Concentration and function of Group B streptococcal antibody in uninfected infants born to mothers with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection'. Dr Helena White from Leicester Royal Infirmary received the award towards her research project entitled 'Screening for latent tuberculosis in HIV positive individuals'.
MSD has provided travel scholarships to 10 UK-based healthcare professionals who are either training or working in the field of HIV medicine. The value of each scholarship was capped as a contribution towards an award winner's registration fee, travel and accommodation expenses at either the recent 14th European AIDS Conference (EACS) held in Brussels, Belgium on 16-19 October 2013. The winners of this scholarship are noted below:
Dr Amgad Habib, Warwick Hospital
Dr Megan Keira Crofts, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Jane Greatorex, Public Health England
Dr Anna Hartley, Barts Health NHS Trust, London
Dr Julian Langton-Lockton, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital
Dr Desmond Maitland, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Miss Tammy Murray, St Thomas' Hospital, London
Dr Erasmus Smit, Public Health England
Dr Rebecca Thomson-Glover, Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Dr Adele Wolujewicz, Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Dr David Asboe (left) presents Professor Rob Horne (right) 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 9th 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 Professor Rob Horne, Director for the Centre of Behavioural Medicine at University of London, for his presentation 'Understanding patient beliefs and improving adherence'.
Dr David Asboe (left) and Dr Adrian Palfreeman (right) present Mr James Williams (centre) with a commemorative trophy in recognition of his Research Award.
In 2012, as a memorial to Professor Donald Jeffries OBE, the BHIVA Education and Scientific Subcommittee instituted an award for the top-scoring project in the BHIVA Research Awards applications. This award has been set up in perpetuity, to honour Professor Jeffries' unerring support of the British HIV Association.
This annual prize was awarded to Mr James Williams, PhD student at Oxford University, for his presentation 'Understanding patient beliefs and improving adherance'.