On Tuesday, October 26, more than 300 representatives from our current HIV clinical trial networks, the infectious diseases research community, and HIV advocacy groups attended the “Town Hall Meeting to Examine the Restructuring of the NIAID Clinical Trials Networks.”
The goals of the meeting were to:
- Provide NIAID’s overarching vision for the future of its HIV clinical trial network structure. They want to expand the scope of the network’s current activities to include research on infectious diseases relevant to people who are living with HIV (hepatitis, TB), as well as other non-HIV-related topics (antimicrobial resistance, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, etc.).
- Seek specific feedback on how best to restructure NIAID’s clinical trial framework.
The meeting was about engaging the research community. Watch a video about Carl W. Dieffenbach, Ph.D., Director of NIAID’s Division of AIDS reflections about the meeting:
Unless you’re going to include Hawai’i (and its ties to the Polynesian, Asian, and South Pacific subsets) don’t waste your time. Hawai’i may be a great place to visit, but we’re still struggling with HIV and the travelers that come “through” here enroute to the mainland and other various points eastward. Without real representation of the Pacific Rim countries, within the US, this discussion is simply moot.
Hawai’i, by itself is not a country, it is part of the United States. That being said, I love everything(!!) about Hawai’i (main island) from the Ironmen and Ironwomen who have braved, died honorably or survived Kona, The Little Blue Church (where I was married to my wife), and the ashen sulfuric gas clouds that emanate easterly above the lava falls pouring off the coastal cliffs into the deep blue yonder! Stay Beautiful Hawai’i!
The idea of encouraging the resetting of the NIAID division’s sights on a more comprehensive, dispersed, non-singular and generally more welcoming and more inclusive set of medical research goals, we not only encourage and open the door to a larger spread of valuable, but timid scientists, we also pave the way for observedly- & measurably-improved medical research outcomes and productivity. The idea is the same, improve our nation’s health, improve our nation’s safety, and improve our nation’s well-being. By expanding our research pursuits to include more than 1 unique disease state, we can ultimately grow as health professionals and researchers.
But Yes, We Must Cure HIV-1.
We Must Prove Our Point.
Justin Millard