CHAPEL HILL -- When the 13th International AIDS Conference convenes July 9-14 in Durban, South Africa, it will mark the first time the annual event has taken place in a developing country. Moreover, the meeting is in sub-Saharan Africa, home to some 70 percent of the world's HIV-infected population. A contingent of scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including 15 faculty members affiliated with its Center for AIDS Research, are slated to report on a variety of topics. The center is funded by the National Institutes of Health so scientists can pursue new laboratory, clinical and societal solutions toward combating the HIV epidemic worldwide. Some of the presentations from Carolina faculty members include:
- Drs. Robert Johnston, Nancy Davis, Ron Swanstrom and Jeffrey Frelinger of the UNC-CH department of microbiology and immunology, and Robert Olmsted of Durham-based AlphaVax, will report progress on a novel approach to a vaccine against HIV infection. Their goal is to begin clinical tests on the vaccine in South Africa and the United States within the next year. Many candidate vaccines are designed to work only against strains of HIV found in the United States, but Johnston's vaccine is designed to work against African strains of HIV, as well.
- Researchers from the UNC-CH schools of medicine and dentistry researchers will discuss the need for better training and counseling for people who convey bad news to HIV/AIDS patients. The researchers found that demonstrating concern and allowing an opportunity for talk and a chance to show feelings were major factors affecting the diagnostic encounter.
- Where and how best to direct AIDS-prevention remains an urgent issue in this pandemic. Researchers from the Center for AIDS Research and the Carolina Population Center will describe a multi-disciplinary method for more rapidly identifying community areas of high HIV transmission.
- In yet another report, Drs. Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque and Nancy Raub-Traub of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center reveal new DNA evidence clarifying the role the Epstein-Barr virus plays in a mouth disorder commonly associated with AIDS.
- A team headed by the Center for AIDS Research's Dr. Joseph Eron studied 11 years' worth of insurance demographics for patients seen at the UNC Infectious Disease Clinic. Among the findings: a "remarkable increase in uninsured patients" and a drop in the average age of patients regardless of age, race and gender. UNC-CH investigators also will travel to Malawi to meet with AIDS experts there.
By LESLIE H. LANG UNC-CH School of Medicine
For more information on the presentations by Carolina researchers at the AIDS conference in Durban, contact Charles van der Horst, MD, associate professor of medicine, at 919-966-2536; or email: cvdh@med.unc.edu.