amfAR H1N1 Briefing: Interview with Dr. Susan J. Blumenthal

by Michelle Samplin-Salgado

On December 11, 2009, amfAR sponsored a Congressional briefing on the implications of H1N1 influenza for people living with HIV/AIDS .

Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. Senior Policy and Medical Advisor, amFAR

I sat down with Dr. Susan J. Blumenthal, Senior Policy and Medical Advisor for amfAR and former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General, who moderated an expert panel with physicians, and policy and advocacy experts. Listen to a podcast from our conversation or read the transcripts.

Also at the briefing, amfAR released the fact sheet, 2009 H1N1 Flu and HIV/AIDS: What You Need to Know (PDF 133 KB) .

H1N1 Flu and HIV Webinar Highlights

By Miguel Gomez

Nearly 850 participants joined AIDS.gov online and/or via conference call last week to hear from leading experts and local grantees about H1N1 Preparedness and HIV. On the webinar we heard from our Federal colleagues, CDC’s Dr. John Brooks, and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Dr. Elizabeth Higgs, along with Ryan White grantees such as Iliana Gilliland from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago , Paul Stabile of The William F. Ryan Community Health Center in New York City, and Dr. Shannon Hader and Beverly Pritchett from the DC Department of Health.

H1N1 Preparedness and HIV Webinar

Nearly 850 HIV federal colleagues staff and grantees participated in a webinar on Wednesday, September2, “H1N1 Preparedness & HIV” for the HIV community.

Dr. Elizabeth Higgs, Deputy Branch Chief of the Collaborative Clinical Research Branch at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, spoke about their work around H1N1 and HIV. She told the participants that “the job of NIH is to help provide the data that comes from research to support pandemic preparedness. At NIAID we’ve been partnering with colleagues in HHS and focusing on three broad areas — vaccines, better understanding or pathogenesis of the illness, and trying to think through research for novel antiviral approaches.”