Event review: 21st International HIV Dynamics & Evolution meeting

This year, the 21st HIV Dynamics and Evolution meeting took place from 7-10 May in Tucson, USA. The meeting is designed to stimulate discussion and interaction between researchers in the field of HIV data modelling and analysis at various levels, from patients to populations. This includes research into vaccines and therapy, epidemiology and molecular epidemiology, as well as simulation studies and new developments in software. The number of participants is deliberately kept low, with only 94 participants this year. It is a closed meeting during which ongoing research is frequently presented.

Daniela Bezemer from the Stichting HIV Monitoring (SHM) presented her research into HIV-1 transmission networks amongst men who have sex with men in the Netherlands, based on mathematical modelling and phylogenetic analyses of HIV-1 polymerase sequences. Her research, carried out in collaboration with researchers from Imperial College London, provides a clear overview of how the various HIV-1 subtype B transmission networks have developed since the start of the epidemic in the 1980s. Once formed, these networks appear difficult to halt because of viral transmission to younger generations of men who have sex with men. The results of this research have recently been submitted for publication in a scientific journal.

Along the same theme, Oliver Ratmann (Imperial College London, UK) presented ongoing work into the role of particular risk factors, such as the early stages of infection, age or periods of virological failure, for onward HIV transmission among men having sex with men in the Netherlands. The research, in collaboration with scientists at SHM, is based on a very large sample size: compared to a previous influential analysis conducted in the United Kingdom, 15 times more data points are available for this study due to the way HIV infected patients in the Netherlands agree to share their anonymous demographic, clinical and viral sequence data with scientists.

For the full programme of this year’s meeting and abstracts from previous years, please visit: https://cme.ucsd.edu/hivdynamics/program.html

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Stichting HIV Monitoring

Stichting HIV Monitoring (SHM) makes an essential contribution to healthcare for HIV-positive people in the Netherlands. Working with all recognised HIV treatment centres in the Netherlands, SHM systematically collects coded medical data from all registered HIV patients. SHM uses these data to produce centre-specific reports that allow HIV treatment centres to optimise their patient care and obtain formal certification. SHM’s data also form the basis for the yearly HIV monitoring report and are used in HIV-related research in the Netherlands and internationally. The outcome of SHM’s research provides tangible input into HIV care and prevention polices in the Netherlands.

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