Roger Paredes, new member of the WHO HIV Drug Resistance Steering Group
The group gathers twenty experts from institutions around the world, is the principal adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) in the field of HIV resistance to antiretroviral treatments. Members are elected for an initial appointment of three years, extendable for up to three more.
- Paredes, head of the IrsiCaixa group of Microbial genomics and physician at the HIV unit of the Hospital Germans Trias and the Fight Against AIDS Foundation, is a recognized expert in resistance to antiretroviral drugs. His group also studies the influence of the intestinal microbiome in the immune system of HIV-infected people.
Roger Paredes, head of the IrsiCaixa group of Microbial genomics and physician at the Hospital Germans Trias and theFight Against AIDS Foundation, has been elected new member of the WHO HIV Drug Resistance Steering Group (WHO HIV ResNet). The Steering Group consists of twenty experts from research centers, hospitals, universities and public health agencies around the world, including the University of Stanford, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Thailand, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Members represent a wide range of disciplines within the field of HIV, including monitoring and surveillance, research and development, public health and the implementation of HIV programs.
The duration of the initial appointment of each member will be three years, extendable for a duration of one to three years. According to Paredes, this appointment is "a unique opportunity to transfer knowledge gained with research to the establishment of specific policies to curb the advance of HIV worldwide".
Main threat to the effectiveness of treatments
HIV resistance to drugs are the main threat to the success achieved in the control of HIV worldwide, mainly in low-income countries. For example, a study led by the group of Dr. Paredes and ISGlobal in Manhiça (Mozambique) concluded that antiretroviral treatment is not effective in 24% of HIV patients, and that 89% of these cases are due to development of resistance against the available drugs.
WHO HIV ResNet is the principal advisory group to WHO on HIV Drug Resistance (HIVDR), advising the WHO on issues such as the major issues and challenges to be addressed to achieve the strategic goals of minimizing the emergence and transmission of HIVDR; the engagement of partners, advocacy and outreach efforts to tackle HIVDR and the long-term sustainability of the WHO work on HIVDR.
Roger Paredes obtained a PhD in Medicine and surgery from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and specialized in HIV resistance at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital of Boston, Harvard Medical School, thanks to a post-doctoral scholarship of "la Caixa". His research has demonstrate the clinical usefulness of new methods of HIV sequencing in both high and low-income countries. He is a member of the International Antiviral Society-USA (IAS-USA), which annually publishes the international reference list of mutations of resistance to antiretrovirals. He is also co-author of the Rega drug resistance interpretation algorithm, member of the Scientific Committee of the European and International Drug Resistance Workshops and a virologist at the European EuroSIDA cohort, conducting a prospective clinical follow-up of more than 15,000 people living with HIV. Paredes combines his work as a researcher with the care of HIV-infected people at the Hospital Germans Trias and the Fight Against AIDS Foundation.