Grant: Planning Grants - Priority Announcement: Infection and Immunity

HIV-1 infected individuals with slow disease progression are rare and constitute an important population in which to study virus/host interactions contributing to the control of HIV-1 infection. These studies will likely provide information on rational vaccine design as well as potential new therapeutic targets. We have set up a cohort of HIV-1 infected individuals with slow disease progression (Slow Progressors) in Quebec, and are now expanding it to the rest of Canada. We have secured the collaboration of most of Canada's clinician scientists working in the HIV field. In order to make the best scientific use of the data that will be collected throughout this 5-year cohort study, we wish to organize a one-day workshop to exchange with all these collaborators on ideas and progress that has been made to date on HIV-1 pathogenesis relating to disease progression. The workshop will comprise scientific presentations from international experts in the field. The second part of the workshop will be used for scientific discussions on the various projects supported by the cohort. Finally, the third part will be used for the organization and coordination of the cohort's activities for the next year. This workshop will enrich our project and enhance the collaboration among this group of researcher.