CROI 2011 Wrap-Up: Taking Research Into Practice

The video below has been cross-posted on TheBodyPRO.com with permission from our partners at the International Foundation for Alternative Research in AIDS (IFARA). Visit IFARA's blog to watch more video interviews from the conference.

As CROI 2011 drew to a close, Joel Gallant, M.D., M.P.H., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine sat down for a wrap-up chat with Fred Schaich of the International Foundation for Alternative Research in AIDS. In this interview, Gallant takes a step back from the specific details of the research that was presented at CROI. Instead, he discusses the broader implications of some key recent developments in the field, many of which were highlighted in presentations this week. Among the questions he addresses are:

• Biomedical HIV interventions, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and microbicides: As the research solidifies, what are the practical implications of, and obstacles to, implementation?
• Given the current state of HIV drug development, what does the future look like for HIV treatment, particularly for patients with multidrug resistance?
• How should we make sense of the potential long-term implications of inflammation in people with HIV?
• How hard should clinicians "push" an HIV-infected person to begin antiretroviral therapy?

Gallant also takes a moment to certify the importance of longitudinal knowledge in HIV care -- in particular, the ability of a patient and physician to maintain medical records and ensure they are shared whenever a patient transitions to new care.

(Video by Jim Thompson)