Town Meeting on a Cure for AIDS: Philadelphia (November 18)

Please forward widely:

The AIDS Policy Project is sponsoring an AIDS CURE town meeting in Philadelphia on Thursday, November 18th, 2010. There is major research taking place that is pushing us closer to a cure. The stakes are huge for the 33 million people with AIDS, most in developing countries, most with no access to AIDS drugs. We will talk about the science and the global health implications of cutting-edge AIDS cure research.

Jay Kostman, MD, HIV physician and researcher, will examine the science, and activists will discuss a new campaign.

November 18, 7 pm, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA
RSVP:  info@AIDSPolicyProject.org

Snacks will be provided.

Los Angeles Town Meeting on AIDS Cure Research

TOWN MEETING ON NEW PROGRESS TOWARD A CURE FOR AIDS

November 3, 7:00 pm

Plummer Park Community Center, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, Rooms 5 & 6

The AIDS Policy Project is holding a public town meeting to discuss some exciting new AIDS cure research, as well as a new grassroots, activist campaign for a cure AIDS.

The meeting will feature a talk by two scientists, Paula Cannon, PhD, from the University of Southern California; and Dr. John A. Zaia, from City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, CA. Both are studying ways to change the immune cells of people with HIV to make them resist HIV infection; the HIV-resistant cells would then replace infected cells. This work follows up on the 2008 case of the Berlin Patient, who was cured of AIDS through a bone marrow transplant using a donor who was born immune to HIV. The event is being co-sponsored by AIDS Project Los Angeles and CIRM, California’s state stem cell agency. The AIDS Policy Project's cure campaign is the subject of the cover story of this month's issue of POZ Magazine (www.POZ.com).

Says Kate Krauss, Executive Director of the AIDS Policy Project, “Most people don’t realize that a patient was cured of AIDS in 2008. California is leading the way in both funding and actually doing the critical research that follows up on that case and might lead to a cure for millions of people. Thirty-three million people have AIDS right now, and most can't get treatment. It’s important for the community to stand up and say, ‘we need a cure.'”

The town meeting is open to the public and anyone with an interest is encouraged to attend. While not required by organizers, RSVP emails from attendees to info@aidspolicyproject.org or call 215-939-7852. For more information about the cure campaign, see www.AIDSPolicyProject.org   Please spread the word.

Our AIDS Cure Campaign Made the Cover of Poz Magazine!!

Please check out www.Poz.com or get a newsstand copy--our TEN MONTH-OLD AIDS cure campaign made the cover of Poz Magazine!! There are five articles in total about a cure for AIDS. 

Also consider going to our web site, pressing the donate button and making a contribution to keep us going: www.AIDSPolicyProject.org

Check back later; we will blog about the articles and also discuss the state of the campaign for a cure for AIDS soon. 


Thanks to Poz for covering the research and activism that are working hand-in-hand to get us to a cure.

An AIDS activist participates in a clinical trial for the cure.

It seems like a long time, about a half of my life, that I’ve lived with HIV. Looking back on the days when HIV was not even named yet I can hardly believe I have survived this long. My struggle for survival has been rocky yet I’m lucky to be alive despite the toll on my battered immune system by a devious virus. But I’ve also been tenacious and resilient in trying drug after drug and enrolling in many risky clinical trials, always looking forward to the next treatment, making it to a ripe old age of 54. 

Almost from day one I read everything there was about this disease. I ordered fact sheets from Project Inform where I am now on staff, leading advocacy efforts to find a cure. I taught myself, as many of my comrades did, to learn all there was to learn about HIV and the immune system it attacked. As a member of ACT UP I was arrested in civil disobedience actions, fighting for everything from stigma and discrimination to NIH funding and FDA inaction. Things have quieted down due to the success of the very drugs many people tested in those clinical trials. But I recognize that a life of antiretroviral medications just won’t cut it, for me and for the millions of HIV+ people, especially when there is now a concentrated effort to find a cure. I feel like we deserve an end to this fight.

Today, almost 22 years after my diagnosis I am in an early phase clinical research study to test a gene therapy concept that may lead to more answers towards a cure.

HIV Reservoirs Conference in Vienna. First, the room.

First: The room. The first HIV reservoirs workshop at the IAC is held at the University of Vienna, which appears to be a former palace. There are large statues of Austrian emperors. There are huge paintings of a man I am pretty sure is Louis XIV. The researchers are declaiming from what may or  may not be a throne. When I pan to the ceiling, what you can't quite see are colossal paintings by Klimt. Also, it is 90 degrees, and as the afternoon wore on, the comments and questions to speakers became more and more sharp and annoyed, I think because of the heat. If not for the temperature, I could stay in this room forever. Click on each image to see the full photo.  I'm not sure why the square below is black, but click on it--it works. Next up: The science.

Your Input: What would you like to ask top AIDS cure researchers?

Hi,

We're here at the two-day Reservoirs Workshop (HIV reservoirs is researcher talk for CURE research).

I'm here with the top AIDS cure researchers in the world. We have some good questions for them:

How much money are you spending to duplicate the Berlin Patient experiment?

How long will it be before we can try Paula Cannon's mice experiment in people?

What would you like to ask top AIDS *cure* researchers?

STARTING THURSDAY from Vienna: We're Blogging on a Cure!

Hi,

Starting on THURSDAY (so, soon) we will attend a special meeting on AIDS *cure* research as well as the Vienna International AIDS Conference. We will be blogging a lot, in plain English, about what we learn about AIDS cure research.

PLEASE FOLLOW US AS WE BLOG ON PROSPECTS FOR A CURE FOR AIDS:

The Cure Blog:              http://aidspolicyproject.blogspot.com/
Twitter:                           http://www.twitter.com/aidspolicyproj
Facebook:                       http://tiny.cc/vt38Y
Our web site:                  http://www.AIDSPolicyProject.org

With photos, so look out!

Like the Berlin Patient, except in a mouse, and easier to do.

This is based on information from Jules Levin (www.NATAP.org), who tracks all things AIDS and research.

Basically a California researcher named Paula Cannon has demonstrated that in a mouse, if you treat human stem cells (yes, they're using a mouse that's been engineered to have a human immune system) with a new zinc finger technology, you can disrupt CCR5, which is something that HIV needs to infect cells. The healthy stem cells then reproduce and spread into many kinds of uninfected immune cells. And you don't need to do this to a ton of cells, because these new HIV-free cells you are creating spread quickly. Similar to the Berlin Patient, (he got a special stem cell transplant from someone whose immune system naturally lacked CCR5) but at least in this mouse experiment, a complete stem cell transplantation isn't necessary. Also, if it works in humans, it's a "one shot thing." OK now, we are cooking with gas. Article was in press (and possibly out of reach of most other researchers) for 9 months. Bolding is mine.