Activists launch new survey, ask people with HIV to take 10 minutes to help speed HIV cure research

Please forward to others who would like to participate

Find the survey here.

San Francisco, CA-A coalition of HIV advocacy groups are calling on all people with HIV to take 10 minutes to complete a survey they hope will help speed the pace of HIV cure research.

At issue are the kinds of risks that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will allow in early phase clinical studies of promising treatments to either eradicate HIV from the body or to help the immune system better control the virus without the need for antiretroviral drugs.

"There are complex considerations in the FDA's regulation of early studies that might carry certain health risks, especially if those studies are designed more to move the science forward than to achieve an immediate cure in the individual," said David Evans, director of research advocacy for Project Inform in San Francisco.

"We believe that soliciting the opinions of people with HIV regarding the potential risks involved will help inform discussions regarding the design of these trials, and shed light on the extent to which individuals are willing to assume some risk even if the study would only help people further down the road," Evans continued.

Evans, in partnership with Nelson Vergel, director of the Program for Wellness in Houston, and Richard Jefferys from the Treatment Action Group in New York City, devised the survey to help measure the willingness of people with HIV to participate in research for more altruistic reasons and to gauge the factors that are most strongly associated with a persons willingness.

The activists are hoping that the results of the survey may lead to more openness toward community input on the part of the branch of the FDA that will be responsible for reviewing many cure-oriented treatments, called the Center for Biologics and Evaluation Research (CBER).

"Several researchers are designing studies right now that will soon ask people to take some risks to learn more about new approaches to cure HIV. It is important for the HIV community to let them and the FDA know what it is willing to do to advance a cure of an illness that kills more than 2 million people per year", said Vergel.

Vergel and his colleagues are hoping that people with HIV and their service providers will spread word widely about the survey. The larger the number of people who take it, and the greater the diversity of the survey-takers, the more legitimacy the survey results will have. The group intends to make the results of the survey public before the launch of the 2012 International AIDS Conference that will take place in July in Washington, DC.

Survey.

Interview with the Berlin Patient in Houston

Timothy Ray Brown, aka “The Berlin Patient,” is the first person to be declared cured of HIV. A Seattle native living in Berlin until his recent move to San Francisco, he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006 while living with HIV. Timothy underwent an innovative treatment for his cancer that resulted in not only a remission of his leukemia, but also having HIV completely eliminated from his body.
We were happy to have Brown speak on September 22 in Houston at two HIV-cure advocacy lectures sponsored by LIVE Consortium for the LGBT community and doctors at Baylor School of Medicine. His speech moved many in the audience to tears as they heard about his struggle and triumph. At the end of the speech, he was made an honorary citizen of Houston by Mayor Annise Parker. Following is a short interview with Brown.


Read more here:

http://outsmartmagazine.com/2011/11/the-%E2%80%98berlin-patient%E2%80%99/

Is the Cure for HIV Possible in our LIfetime?

CD4 cell manipulation and reinfusion...will they make a difference in long term survival?

Very cool article on Matt's CD4 cell manipulation and reinfusion

Will this be a solution for people whose CD4 cells have remained low even after years of undectectable viral load? Are these "HIV resistant" CD4 cells functional in the long run? Well, Matt thinks his health has improved and he no longer has sinus infections like he used to before he joined the study.  We may soon need all of you to support this new concept, so be ready!

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hiv-treatment/hiv-cure/3275-gambling-for-a-cure-for-hiv?ic=700100

The Cure of HIV is Possible- But We Need Your Help

After attending a meeting sponsored by several organizations (TAG, AMFAR, Project Inform, the AIDS Policy Project) in Baltimore on April 20-21 this year, I came to the realization that we needed a video that would wake people up to the challenges ahead of us to get to a cure of HIV that is accessible and practical.  As most of you know, the case of Timothy Brown (aka The Berlin patient), a person who got cured of HIV and leukemia 5 years ago, has jolted a new energy and hope in the search for the cure.  But most people with HIV, policy makers and potential funding sources are not fully aware of this case and what the new movement for a search for a cure are all about.  So, I decided to travel around the country to interview key players in advancing this field to make a short video that could serve as a catalyst for awareness and change. This short video, done with a very low budget with the help of my activist friend Greg Fowler, is only part of a longer, more detailed documentary to be finished before World AIDS Day this year, the 30 year anniversary of the first AIDS cases. Please watch it and forward it to your friends.  Please follow the suggestions made in that video and become part of the cure! Everyone can do something now to raise awareness and funds not only for research but also for advocacy and education in this important new and expanding area.  I hope I can count on you.