NCHIV 2012: Insights and developments in HIV research
The Sixth Netherlands Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment (NCHIV 2012) is set to take place this year on 27 November 2012. Once again, the conference will be located at the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). NCHIV provides an update and a national platform for discussion of new insights and developments in research on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of HIV.
This year we will have an Opening and a Closing Keynote. We are fortunate to again have Richard Koup presenting the Opening Keynote during the Pathogenesis session on “The quest for an HIV vaccine”. Dr. Koup is a Senior Investigator and Chief of the Immunology Laboratory at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
During the Closing Keynote both Christophe Fraser and John Blandford will present on topics related to treatment as prevention. Christophe Fraser is Chair of Theoretical Epidemiology and a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College, London. During his presentation he will focus on modelling and treatment as prevention. John Blandford, Chief of Health Economics, Systems and Integration, Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA will give an economic overview of treatment as prevention.
Following on from Richard Koup’s keynote, Ben Berkhout (AMC, UvA, Amsterdam) will also present on developments related to HIV vaccines. During the Epidemiology session, Jan van Bergen (AMC, UvA, Amsterdam) will present “Proactive HIV-testing by the GP: fact or fiction”. The Treatment session will feature Jan van der Meer (AMC, UvA, Amsterdam) with an overview of treatment of HCV co-infection, Joop Arends (UMC, Utrecht) with an overview of treatment of HBV co-infection and Peter Reiss (AMC, UvA, Amsterdam) who will present on ageing and comorbidity. During the Prevention session, Maarten Schim van der Loeff (GGD, Amsterdam) will present on HIV and human papillomavirus co-infections, and Catherine Hankins (AIGHD, Amsterdam) will give an overview of prevention methods.
Until 19 September, scientists have had the opportunity to submit abstracts. At least 8 of the abstracts submitted will be selected for oral presentation during the conference. This year, there will again be an award for the best abstract submitted by a young scientist.
This year, accreditation has been gained from the following organisations: NIV ('Nederlandsche Internisten Vereeniging', NVK ('Nederlandse Vereniging voor Kindergeneeskunde'), NVMM ('Nederlandse Vereniging voor Medische Microbiologie'), KNMP ('Koninklijke Nederlandse Maatschappij ter bevordering der Pharmacie'), NVZA ('Nederlandse Vereniging van Ziekenhuisapothekers') and KVV ('Kwaliteitsregister Verpleegkundigen & Verzorgenden').
More information about NCHIV 2012 can be found on the conference website: http://www.nchiv.org/.