Update on HIV vaccine development: HIVACAT 09 Symposium

On the 16th of October 2009 a scientific symposium will be held at CaixaForum Barcelona to offer an update on HIV vaccine development: the HIVACAT 09 Symposium. It will host internationally renowned speakers including Bruce Walker Director of the Ragon Institute of Massachussets General Hospital, MIT and Harvard, Douglas Richman, Professor of Pathology and Medicine at San Diego School of Medicine of the University of California San Diego and Director of the AIDS Research Institute of the same University, Jaimes I. Mullins, Professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Washington, and the HIVACAT scientific coordinator and ICREA research professor Christian Brander.

The Symposium will open with an inauguration held by the director general of the Fundació la Caixa Jaume Lanaspa, the consellera de salud of the Generalitat de Catalunya Marina Geli, the president of Esteve Antoni Esteve, and the codirectors of HIVACAT Bonaventura Clotet, director of the AIDS Research Institute, IrsiCaixa and Josep Maria Gatell, director of the Unidad de Investigación de Sida at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.

The HIVACAT 09 Symposium has been organised by the AIDS Research Institute IrsiCaixa and the Unit de Investigación de Sida at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona with the support of Esteve and the Obra Social de la Fundación “la Caixa”. It is part of HIVACAT, a research programme for the development of an HIV vaccine carried out by a public and private consortium which, places the Iberian Peninsula at the International research frontline, which is also supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya throught its Departments for Salud and Innovació, Universitats i Empresa.

For more information or registration contact: symposium@irsicaixa.es

Programme

9:30 HIVACAT Symposium Opening
· Jaume Lanaspa, director general Fundació La Caixa
· Josep Maria Gatell, cap servei Malaties Infeccioses i Sida, Hospital Clínic
· Bonaventura Clotet, director Institut de Recerca de la Sida, IrsiCaixa
· Antoni Esteve, president Esteve
· Marina Geli, Consellera de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya

10:00 “Is it enough to achieve a good cellular immunity for a successful therapeutic/prophylactic vaccine?”
· Bruce Walker, MD

10:45 Coffee Break

11:00 “Neutralizing antibodies and its role for a preventive / prophylactic vaccine”
· Doug Richman, MD

11:45 “The HIVACAT project: Highlights of the more promising lines”
· Christian Brander, PhD

12.30 "Educating vaccine immunogen design from early events in
natural HIV infection"
· James I. Mullins, PhD

13:15 “Reaching the goal. The role of philanthropy in HIV vaccine research.”
· Bruce Walker, MD

13.30 Closure
· Christian Brander