IAS gets 2 new co-Chairmen

IAS gets 2 new co-Chairmen
NAN-HG-3
Appointment
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, March 2, 2018 (NAN) International AIDS Society (IAS) has appointed Prof. Sharon Lewin and Dr Mark Dybul as the new co-Chairmen of “Towards an HIV Cure Initiative’’ advisory board.
The IAS governing council announced this in a statement signed by Mandy Sugrue, IAS Communications Director, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday.
IAS, founded in 1988 is the world’s largest association of HIV professionals, with members from more than 180 countries working on all fronts of the global response to HIV.
NAN reports that IAS stewards the world’s two most prestigious HIV conferences, namely International AIDS Conference and IAS Conference on HIV Science.
The IAS programme ‘Towards an HIV Cure Initiative’ was established in 2010 to promote scientific exchange and collaboration to accelerate HIV cure research, advocates for increased investment and global involvement in HIV cure research.
NAN reports that Lewin, a member of IAS governing council is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.
Dybul, a Professor in the Department of Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington D.C, U.S., is Faculty Co-Director of the Center for Global Health and Quality.
He recently stepped down from a five-year tenure as Executive Director of the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The statement said that the appointees have expressed excitement on their new role, pledging their commitment towards ending the scourge.
“It is a great honour for him to be taking the initiative forward at a time when there is renewed excitement in the field,” Lewin said.
“Since 2012, we have come a long way. The rapid advances in HIV cure research have presented clear opportunities for increased engagement between HIV researchers and other disciplines.
“We have most recently seen the coming together of the HIV cure and cancer fields, and I have no doubt that as we accelerate the pace of discovery in HIV cure research, we will continue to see more collaborations of this kind.
“That we are at this point in such a short timeframe is in large part due to the tremendous leadership of our previous Co-Chairs.
“On behalf of the IAS, I would like to thank Jack Whitescarver and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi for their commitment,” Lewin said.
Dybul said that the toolbox of interventions for fighting the HIV pandemic has grown massively since Barré-Sinoussi co-discovered the virus in 1983.
He said that a cure has remained beyond our grasp, saying research to develop a cure for HIV or long-term remission has been promising.
“It has spurred researchers, advocates and community members to continue making progress.
“We’ve seen extraordinary progress made in treating and preventing HIV over the past 35 years.
“But in the long term, researchers and policy makers understand that to seriously bend the trajectory of the epidemic we are going to need something approximating a cure for HIV.
“The IAS Towards an HIV Cure initiative is to be lauded for ensuring that HIV cure research has a seat at the global health table.
“I am delighted to be part of this next phase and look forward to working with such a remarkable group of scientists and policy makers in the coming years,” he said.
NAN reports that Towards an HIV Cure initiative is committed to leveraging a well-informed, multidisciplinary network of stakeholders to advocate for and ensure the prioritisation of HIV cure in the global health agenda.
It is overseen by a Towards an HIV Cure Advisory Board of experts representing governments, UN agencies, civil society organisations and foundations.
The board provides strategic advice and engages stakeholders in the initiative’s long-term strategy to inform global policy, programmes and funding.
To that end, the mission of the IAS Towards an HIV Cure initiative is to drive concerted efforts to accelerate global scientific research and engagement towards a cure for HIV. (NAN)
TAA/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola