Games for Health 2010

By Michelle Samplin-Salgado, AIDS.gov New Media Strategist

We attended the Games for Health 2010 conference in Boston, Massachusetts to learn more about how video games and virtual worlds are being used to increase physical activity, train health care providers, and advocate HIV/AIDS information and prevention methods among youth. Now in its 6th year, the three-day conference was developed in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to convene public healthcare professionals and providers with game developers to bring innovative solutions to everyday issues in public health.

We talked to Lynn Fiellin, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine . Dr. Fiellin is Principal Investigator for a NIH-funded project to develop a behavioral changing HIV prevention video game. We asked her to tell us about her project, why she chose video games as an intervention for HIV and what advice she had for the HIV/AIDS community.

International AIDS Conference: Dr. Valdiserri talks to Ambassador Eric Goosby

by Dr. Ron Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

On July 22, 2010, during the International AIDS Conference , I talked with Ambassador Eric Goosby, who serves as the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, and who oversees the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program.

PEPFAR is the United States’ response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic—but I was interested in getting Dr. Goosby’s impression of what the news coming from the conference might mean for those working on HIV/AIDS in the United States.

I also asked him to share his impressions about the new National HIV/AIDS Strategy and to give those of us responding to the domestic epidemic some advice, based on his work in the thirty-one PEPFAR partner countries.

Wrap-up from the International AIDS Conference in Vienna

By Miguel Gomez, AIDS.gov Director and Michelle Samplin-Salgado, AIDS.gov New Media Strategist

Closing Session, XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria
©IAS/Marcus Rose/Workers’ Photos

Today is the last day of the International AIDS Conference . Throughout the week we’ve had the pleasure of hearing key scientific outcomes along with policy and program updates from the meeting. We were encouraged by the expanded use of new media at the conference this year. For example, the IAC blog and tweets kept us up-to-date throughout the week. We ourselves used our blog, YouTube , Twitter , and Facebook pages to share updates with those who weren't able to attend the conference in-person. We also enjoyed meeting new media colleagues from around the world at tweet ups and other informal meetings.

The closing session concluded with Jack Whitescarver, Director for AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health and Director of the Office of AIDS Research, receiving the first International AIDS Society’s Presentation Award. President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton also shared a video message at the session, where they spoke about the U.S. commitment to HIV and welcomed the conference to Washington, DC in 2012 .

We have additional posts and videos from the conference that we will be sharing over the coming weeks. In the meantime, we encourage you to visit our blog and the AIDS 2010: Expanded Edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation Health Policy Report .

Bringing the International AIDS Conference to DC in 2012

By Gregorio Millett (Cross-posted from the ONAP Blog, originally posted on July 23, 2010)

I have had the pleasure of participating in the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna this past week. As you may know, last week, President Obama held a reception at the White House to celebrate the work of the HIV/AIDS community as his Administration launched the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The positive reaction to the Strategy and the energy of so many advocates, providers, and Federal officials to take the next step to implement the Strategy has been evident throughout the Vienna meeting. This has been just one part of what has made this conference so exciting and full of hope for me. In addition to many great oral sessions and poster sessions, the conference has been electrified by several major research breakthroughs with implications for vaccines to prevent HIV as well as microbicides to protect women from becoming infected by their male partners.

Today also marks the beginning of our collective work to maintain the momentum coming out of Vienna to ensure that at the next conference, in Washington, DC, we all have a solid record of new accomplishments. From the perspective of the United States government, the DC conference will be an important opportunity to showcase American leadership in working to end AIDS at home and around the world. I thought you would like to see the message from President Obama welcoming delegates to the Vienna conference to Washington, DC in July 2012.

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Ending the HIV pandemic is an important challenge of our time and, for the first time in a long time, it feels like something that is within reach. I hope that we take another step towards this goal in DC two years from now.

Gregorio Millett is the Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of National AIDS Policy and he is representing the United States on the Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC) for the AIDS 2012 Conference.

NIH’s Dr. Jack Whitescarver Honored with New IAS Presidential Award for His Outstanding Commitment to the Global Fight Against HIV

By Miguel Gomez, AIDS.gov Director

Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIH, Dr. Julio Montaner, IAS , and Dr. Jack Whitescarver, NIH

Today, the International AIDS Society (IAS) honored Dr. Jack Whitescarver, Associate Director for AIDS Research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Director of the NIH Office of AIDS Research, for his outstanding commitment to the global fight against HIV, and his pioneering work in the field. During the closing session of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) in Vienna, Austria, Dr. Whitescarver became the first recipient of the IAS Presidential Award.

The award recognizes the achievements of an individual who demonstrates a long history of leadership and excellence as a pioneer or advocate at the forefront of the response to HIV and AIDS. The award highlights an individual’s contribution that results in increased knowledge, skills, creative solutions or evidence-based policies and programs to enhance the global response to AIDS.

The award was presented by IAS President Dr. Julio Montaner of Canada and incoming IAS President Elly Katabira of Uganda. “Dr. Whitescarver has been a supporter of innovation in HIV research since the emergence of the epidemic,” said Montaner, “He has worked tirelessly to strengthen research capacity, to support the work of younger investigators and to ensure that new scientific research benefits the millions infected with HIV and AIDS.”

View video of the award presentation recorded by the Kaiser Family Foundation .

Dr. Whitescarver serves as both the NIH Associate Director for AIDS Research and as Director of the Office of AIDS Research. He received his doctorate degree in medical microbiology in 1974 from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), following which he pursued his post-doctoral research at the Harvard School of Public Health. In 1977, Dr. Whitescarver completed a year in the NIH Grants Associates Program and became the Special Assistant to the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). It was during this tenure that Dr. Whitescarver first reported to the NIAID on the possibility of the emergence of a new infectious disease, now known as AIDS, and he helped develop the initial federal response for research on AIDS. In 1988, Dr. Whitescarver was recruited as the Deputy Director of the newly established Office of AIDS Research (OAR) at the NIH. He served as Acting Director of the OAR from October 2000 until June 2002, when he was named its permanent Director. During his tenure, he has launched visionary domestic and international research and training initiatives to meet the ever-changing challenges of the epidemic.