INTEREST HARARE – ZIMBABWE 9Th INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP on HIV TREATMENT, PATHOGENESIS and PREVENTION RESEARCH in RESOURCE-LIMITED SETTINGS
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5 - 8 MAY 2015 INTEREST HARARE – ZIMBABWE 9th INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON HIV TREATMENT, PATHOGENESIS AND PREVENTION RESEARCH IN RESOURCE-LIMITED SETTINGS EVALUATION REPORT www.virology-education.com CONTENT Executive Summary .............................................................................. 3 Introduction ........................................................................................... 4 Background .............................................................................................4 Format ....................................................................................................4 Unique Meeting Features .......................................................................4 Target Audience ......................................................................................5 Meeting Objectives ..................................................................................5 Learning Objectives ................................................................................5 Acknowledgements .............................................................................. 6 Organizing Committee .......................................................................... 7 Local Organizing Committee ................................................................ 9 Scientific Committee .......................................................................... 10 Participants’ Feedback ....................................................................... 11 Lectures ................................................................................................11 Take home messages ...........................................................................19 Meeting objectives ................................................................................20 Impact ...................................................................................................20 Abstracts ..............................................................................................20 Organization ..........................................................................................21 General event experience .....................................................................21 Meeting demographics ....................................................................... 22 Number of Registrants .........................................................................22 Professional Background .....................................................................22 Participants’ Comments ..................................................................... 23 Suggestion for improvement ...............................................................23 Challenges facing daily practice ...........................................................23 Final remarks .......................................................................................23 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 24 List of Participants .............................................................................. 25 EVALUATION REPORT 9th INTEREST workshop 5 - 8 May 2015, Harare, Zimbabwe 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The INTEREST Workshop initiative was launched in 2007 and spearheaded by Professors Joep M.A. Lange (Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD), Academic Medical Center, Department of Global Health / University of Amsterdam) and Charles A.B. Boucher (Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, University of Rotterdam). Together with a prominent group of international experts in the field of HIV/AIDS, an annual international meeting in Africa has been developed. During these meetings, experts in the field of HIV prevention and treatment share their knowledge and views on a variety of HIV related topics. Due to the tragic accident of the MALAYSIAN MH17 flight in July 2014, Professor Joep M.A. Lange died. Professor Catherine Hankins (AIGHD), has successfully taken up the task as Scientific Chair from Professor Joep Lange in the continuation of this yearly African event. The workshop focuses on issues of particular relevance for the African continent and gives opportunity to young researchers to present their data. The workshop atmosphere stimulates and facilitates discussion and interaction between participants. This year’s workshop, opened by Dr David Parirenyatwa, Minister of Health and Child Care of Zimbabwe, consisted of plenary sessions, roundtable discussions, a debate, satellite symposia, abstract presentations and poster discussions. New this year was the debate, which was very well received by the participants. Special attention was given to young researchers. In the early morning seminars, prior to the workshop program, well- published world class scientists explained how they got started on a research career, gave advice and answered questions from aspiring junior researchers. Opportunity was given to early career investigators to meet the expert. The Embassy of The Netherlands in Harare and UNAIDS sponsored a site visit to the research hospital in Chitungwiza in the afternoon after the workshop One of the conclusions of the evaluation is that almost all respondents will plan to attend the meeting again next year and will recommend the workshop to their colleagues. 81% of the respondents labelled the content of the workshop as excellent, the other 19% as very good. The number of participants and represented countries of the INTEREST Workshop is increasing each year. This year 473 delegates from 26 countries registered while in 2014: 414 delegates from 23 countries registered for the workshop. The number of clinicians increased from 50% to 60%. See also the following charts: Professional Background 2015 2014 Marketing person Other 1% Other 20% Student 12% 5% Student 5% Marketing Clinicians 50% persons 2% Clinician Researcher 60% Researchers 22% 23% Excellent conference! Highly appreciated meeting. Very informative and educative up to date event. EVALUATION REPORT 9th INTEREST workshop 5 - 8 May 2015, Harare, Zimbabwe 3 INTRODUCTION This is the evaluation report of the 9th International workshop on HIV Treatment, Pathogenesis and Prevention Research in Resource-Limited Settings, held on 5-8 May 2015 in the Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe. The Organizing Committee, Scientific Committee and Organizing Secretariat highly value the opinion of the participants in order to further improve the quality of the workshop. Participants are asked to complete four evaluation forms, one form on each day, to share their opinion on several subjects. BACKGROUND The INTEREST workshop was initiated 9 years ago with the objective • To function as a platform to discuss how recent insights in HIV may translate into new intervention strategies for areas with limited resources • To gather experts involved in HIV from different disciplines in an interactive workshop setting • To provide a platform for presentation of the latest developments in the field • To translate new data into treatment guidelines • To stimulate discussion and consensus on best practice • To give researchers a platform FORMAT This three and a half day international workshop consists of plenary sessions with invited lectures by key opinion leaders, roundtable discussions, a debate, satellite symposia, oral abstract presentations and poster discussions. The setup of the workshop with ample time for Q&A, resulted in a highly interactive workshop. This year, for the first time early morning sessions were held prior to the workshop program. In these sessions well- published world class scientists explained how they got started on a research career, gave advice and answered questions from aspiring junior researchers. Opportunity was given to early career investigators to meet the expert. .UNIQUE MEETING FEATURES • The INTEREST workshop is a unique scientific platform where clinicians and researchers from Africa and key persons from other parts of the world are brought together to present and discuss the latest developments in treatment, pathogenesis and prevention research • The INTEREST meeting offers a unique platform to discuss issues of particular relevance for the African continent. It is referred to as “The African CROI”. • It provides a forum for high-level exchange of scientific advances that will improve the prevention of HIV infection and the care of people living with HIV in Africa. • It is a critical element of strengthening the African community and forging new collaborations to advance the African medical research agenda • The workshop gives young researchers the possibility to present their data and to communicate with colleagues and key persons in the field. EVALUATION REPORT 9th INTEREST workshop 5 - 8 May 2015, Harare, Zimbabwe 4 TARGET AUDIENCE • Clinicians involved in HIV treatment and care • Researchers • Medical and PHD students • Policy makers MEETING OBJECTIVES • To bring together professionals in the field of infectious diseases and clinical virology in an interactive workshop setting • To provide a platform for presentation and discussion of the latest developments in the field of antiviral drug development • To map all current studies and results • To translate new data to treatment guidelines • To educate clinicians on how to best implement current and new drugs in clinical practice LEARNING OBJECTIVES After participating in this activity, the participants will: • Have improved their knowledge of the most recent results in HIV treatment, pathogenesis and prevention