Antiretroviral Therapy 

31 August - 8:30-9:00

With currently available antiretroviral therapy (ART), most people with HIV achieve and maintain viral suppression, and HIV has become a chronic, manageable condition. This session will cover current treatment strategies and clinical guidelines with a focus on the optimal management of people with HIV. An update on the clinical role of new and investigational agents will also be presented.  

Speaker: Dr Nicola Mackie (UK)

Establishing a research question and choosing an appropriate study design

31 August - 9:00-9:30

The research question is a pivotal part of the scientific process and is at the heart of providing evidence to support or refute our hypotheses. An appropriately designed study is absolutely essential in order to answer the research question. This lecture will focus on the steps needed to establish a research question, knowing that this process depends on many points of consideration, such as previous studies, clinical importance, and feasibility. We will also cover the various study designs (e.g., randomized clinical trials, observational cohorts, cross-sectional studies, etc.) that can be used to get as close as possible to answering the research question.  

Speaker: Dr Anders Boyd (Switzerland)

Resistance & management of unsuppressed viraemia

31 August - 9:30-10:00

Current antiretroviral treatments control viral replication, leading to maintenance of a plasma viral load <50 copies/mL (virological success). Adherence difficulties are associated with virological failure and viral resistance. In this session, we will discuss the clinical, virological, and therapeutic approach to be applied in situations of virological failure. We will talk about the new molecules of interest in this situation. We will also discuss the management of low-level viraemia.

Speaker: Dr Romain Palich (France)

A brief history of the HIV epidemic and how our research studies have contributed to our knowledge 

31 August - 16:30-17:30

This lecture will focus on the major scientific and community milestones that have shaped the history of HIV, providing important insights for a new generation of HIV physicians.

Speaker: Prof. Christine Katlama (France)

Conception, pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding

1 September - 8:30-9:00

This lecture will review current practice, guidelines, and the evidence base for the management of HIV in conception, pregnancy, delivery, and breast/chestfeeding. The review will be global and will examine health inequalities created by differences in practices across different world regions. 

Speaker: Prof. Yvonne Gilleece (UK)

Hypothesis testing, p-values and confidence intervals

1 September - 9:00-9:30

Presentations of data in the medical world are littered with p-values. But what do these p-values really tell us, and is a p-value <0.05 really that important? In this lecture, we will start by illustrating how the p-value can help us to differentiate real findings from associations which may occur by chance. We will then demonstrate the general principle of hypothesis testing, using worked examples to illustrate not only how they can be interpreted, but also some of the problems that may be encountered when relying solely on p-values for this purpose. We will then demonstrate how confidence intervals can be used to supplement the information that is provided by the p-value. Participants will then have the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice using real-life examples from the published literature. 

Speaker: Dr Tracy Glass (Switzerland)

Management of PrEP and prevention of STI  

1 September - 9:30 - 10:00

During this session, an update on current and future PrEP strategies will be provided. Key topics on STIs will be discussed, including N. gonorrhea and C. trachomatis screening in asymptomatic men who have sex with men and transgender women, as well as doxy-PEP and vaccines.

Speaker: Dr Agnès Libois (Belgium)

Co-morbidities  

2 September - 8:30-9:00

Co-morbidities remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in people with HIV worldwide. Many co-morbidities are impacted by ageing, the effects of chronic HIV infection and its treatment. This plenary will cover the major co-morbidities experienced by people with HIV, outline new advances in these areas - including the emerging field of precision medicine - and provide a structure for monitoring and management to lessen the impact of co-morbidities on long-term outcomes of people with HIV. 

Speaker: Prof. Paddy Mallon (Ireland)

Getting it wrong – errors in statistical tests and why do we need well-powered studies

2 September - 9:00-9:30

Whenever we undertake a statistical test and interpret the resulting p-value, there is always a chance that our conclusion will be incorrect – we may either conclude that there is a real effect present even if this is not the case, or that there is no real effect present when, in fact, there is one.  This reflects the fact that our analyses are based on samples of a much larger population.  This talk will take the audience through the different errors that can be made when interpreting p-values and will investigate the ways that the risk of making such errors can be reduced.

Speaker: Prof. Caroline Sabin (UK)

Cancers

2 September - 9:30-10:00

In this plenary lecture, I will present epidemiological data on cancers in people living with HIV (PLWH) and discuss how these findings have supported the implementation of both specific and non-specific cancer screening strategies for this population across diverse settings.

The data will also highlight the importance of minimising risk exposures—whether HIV-specific or not—in order to prevent virus-related cancers.

Finally, I will outline the general principles of cancer treatment, emphasising that HIV should be considered an additional comorbidity but should not be a barrier to delivering optimal, up-to-date cancer care.

Speaker: Prof. Alain Makinson (France)

Body weight increase and adipose tissue

2 September - 11:00-12:00

ART-related alterations in body fat amount and repartition have long been described in people living with HIV. At present, most are treated with the class of integrase inhibitors (INSTIs, dolutegravir, bictegravir) with one or two NRTIs (often TAF). However, INSTIs and TAF are associated with weight gain in ART-naïve and ART-experienced individuals. The level of increase is generally moderate and not clinically meaningful. However, in some cases, mainly women, people living with HIV of Black ethnicity, this level is worrying. Indeed, weight gain leads to an increased risk of cardiometabolic complications, hypertension, diabetes, liver steatosis/steatohepatitis, cardiovascular disease.  Novel antidiabetic GLP-1 receptor agonists are effective in reducing weight and cardiometabolic complications. 

Speaker: Prof. Jacqueline Capeau (France)

Opportunistic infections

3 September - 8:30-9:00

Despite wider ART access and declining OI rates, opportunistic infections remain important in people with advanced HIV, late diagnosis, ART interruption, or virological failure. This lecture reviews the changing OI landscape, focusing on recent practical advances. Key TB updates include the 6‑month all‑oral BPaLM regimen for drug‑resistant TB and shorter latent TB options such as 1HP. For cryptococcosis, current guidance emphasises CrAg screening at CD4 ≤200 and single‑dose liposomal amphotericin B–based induction where appropriate. CMV management continues to prioritise ART‑driven immune recovery over primary prophylaxis. Mpox updates include JYNNEOS vaccination and selective tecovirimat use for severe disease.

Speaker: Prof. Sanjay Pujari (India)

Key sources of bias and tips on what to look for in a paper

3 September - 9:00-9:30

When conducting a study, we will obtain a study population, constitute groups of individuals who are exposed and unexposed to a given intervention, treatment, or factor, and compare the occurrence of an outcome between these exposed and unexposed individuals. At each of these steps, certain things can happen that might take us further away from answering the research question. These are generally considered biases. This lecture will focus on the sources of several common biases found in clinical research. We will also cover how to report these biases when drafting research manuscripts and how to look for them in a paper. 

Speaker: Dr Anders Boyd (Switzerland)

Management of liver disease in people living with HIV

3 September - 9:30-10:00

Liver disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV-positive individuals.  This session will provide an update on the epidemiology of viral hepatitis and HIV co-infection.  An update on the current and future management of HBV will be discussed.  Directly Acting Antivirals (DAAs) against HCV have revolutionised HCV management.  Micro-elimination in subgroups of patients may be a realistic possibility in the near future.  However, there are barriers that need to be overcome. Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is an increasingly recognised problem over recent years.  Understanding the pathophysiology and natural history in HIV-positive individuals will be important in order to design optimal management pathways. 

Speaker: Prof. Sanjay Bhagani (UK)

Social science in research

3 September - 16:30-17:30

Using the example of the introduction of HIV self-testing in West Africa through the ATLAS programme, I will illustrate how social science was used to evaluate the implementation of this new screening tool, to document strategies based on secondary distribution, and to generate evidence to support scale-up.

Research embedded within ATLAS included in-depth interviews, ethnographic observations in health facilities, an anonymous quantitative phone survey of users, economic evaluation, and epidemic modelling.

HIV self-testing and secondary distribution are feasible, appropriate, well adapted, cost-effective, and sustainable among key populations in West Africa. Our findings show that HIV self-testing provides an opportunity to reach, beyond key populations, vulnerable groups who have never previously tested.

Speaker: Joseph Larmarange (France)