IAS present awards for outstanding research

INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY AND PARTNERS PRESENT AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH

Women, Girls and HIV Investigator’s Prize; Prize for Excellence in HIV Research Related to Children; IAS TB/HIV Research Prize; Lange/van Tongeren Prizes for Young Investigator Awards; and Special HIV Cure Prize Awarded at AIDS 2016

Durban, South Africa – the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), concluded today with the awarding of five prestigious scientific awards recognizing exceptional research presented at the conference. The honours were presented to ten recipients by the International AIDS Society (IAS), the organizer of AIDS 2016, and its partners.

• "Supporting the field’s talented researchers, across a variety of scientific disciplines, is a key component of the IAS mission,” said IAS President Chris Beyrer. “These prizes encourage outstanding researchers to focus on some of the greatest scientific challenges associated with the HIV epidemic, and to put forth their best efforts to improve our understanding of HIV, and develop the knowledge and tools that can have a global impact on this epidemic.”

Winners of the 2016 Awards

Women, Girls and HIV Investigator’s Prize
Presented by Jan Beagle (UNAIDS) and Princess Tessy of Luxembourg (UNAIDS)

• Sinaye Ngcapu, South Africa
• Effect of injectable hormonal contraceptives on vaginal epithelium thickness and genital HIV target cell density in women recently infected with HIV
The Women, Girls and HIV Investigator’s Prize encourages research in low- or middle-income countries to benefit women and girls affected by HIV and AIDS.

This prize highlights the impact of HIV on women and girls and seeks to encourage investigators from low- and middle- income countries to pursue research in this area. The US$2000 award is made by the IAS and UNAIDS, and supported by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) and the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW).

Prize for Excellence in HIV Research Related to Children
Presented by Lorraine Sherr (Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS) and Chewe Luo (UNICEF)

• Makhahliso Jubilee, Lesotho
• Index Tracking model as a strategy in finding children and adolescents, and improving effective referrals
• Theresa Betancourt, United States
• Family-based promotion of mental health in children affected by HIV: a pilot randomized controlled trial
The Prize for Excellence in HIV Research Related to Children supports investigators demonstrating excellence in research that is likely to lead to improved services for children affected by HIV in low- or middle-income countries. The prize is offered by the IAS and the Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS. This year the US$2,000 prize will be jointly awarded to two researchers who submitted outstanding research to AIDS 2016.

IAS TB/HIV Research Prize
Presented by Chris Beyrer (IAS) and Anton Pozniak (Chelsea and Westminster Hospital)

• Roy Gerona, United States
• Development of a multi-analyte panel for non-invasive pharmacokinetic monitoring of second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs in small hair samples
The US$2,000 IAS TB/HIV Research Prize incentivizes young and established researchers to investigate key issues related to TB/HIV co-infection and the operational effectiveness of core TB/HIV collaborative services. The award is designed to stimulate research on basic, clinical and operations research in TB/HIV prevention.

Lange/van Tongeren Prizes for Young Investigator Awards
Presented by Jean-François Delfraissy (ANRS) and Chris Beyrer (IAS)

Track A: Basic Science & Translational Research

• Jacques Dutrieux, France
• PML/TRIM19-dependent inhibition of retroviral reverse-transcription by Daxx

Track B: Clinical Research

• Munyaradzi Pasipamire, Swaziland
• Evaluating the incremental value of using the TB LAM test in intensified case finding for TB in people living with HIV

Track C: Epidemiology and Prevention Research

• José Luis Gomez, Brazil
• Trans incarceration experiences, cycle of violence and increased risk of HIV infection: results from Muriel Project, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Track D: Social and Political Research, Law, Policy and Human Rights

• Leigh Bukowski, United States
• Physical assault partially mediates the impact of transgender status on depression and poly-substance use among Black MSM and Black transgender women in the United States: results from POWER

Track E: Implementation Research, Economics, Systems and Synergies with other Health and Development Sectors

• Pedro Carneiro, United States
• Implementing a successful PrEP program: lessons learned from the largest LGBT Community Health Clinic in New York City

Special HIV Cure Prize

• Tinya He, United States
• T regulatory cell depletion in controller macaques reactivates SIV and boosts CTLs

The US$2,000 Lange/van Tongeren Prizes for Young Investigators are jointly funded by the IAS and the Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le sida et les hépatites virales (ANRS) to support young researchers who demonstrate innovation, originality, rationale and quality in HIV research. One prize is awarded to the top scoring abstracts in each conference track. An additional Special HIV Cure Prize is awarded to an abstract presented at AIDS 2016 and the Towards an HIV Cure Symposium. In 2015, the Young Investigator Prize was permanently renamed in memory of Joep Lange and Jacqueline van Tongeren.

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