Pathways to next generation of antirectroviral therapies revealed at UCSF/Gladstone center for AIDS

By Jeff Sheehy

## To:  Assignment Desks, News Editors, Science/Medical Reporters

A UCSF-Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) symposium titled, HIV Pathogenesis: back to basics will take place September 20 and 21, 2002.  The symposium will feature basic researchers on the cutting edge of HIV biology. “This type of work will be the springboard for the next generation of antiviral drugs,” said Warner Greene, MD, PhD, director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, and UCSF professor of medicine, microbiology, and immunology.

## Media are Invited to Cover
Dates, Times:
* Friday, September 20, 2002-Noon to 5 pm
* Saturday, September 21, 2002-8am to 4 pm
* Location: UCSF Parnassus Campus, Nursing Auditorium, the School of Nursing Building 2 Koret Way, behind 521 Parnassus San Francisco

Highlights include the keynote presentation by Wes Sundquist, MD, professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah, about his work on HIV budding. “This understanding of how HIV latches on a key cellular factor involved in budding and uses it to escape has revealed a new target for therapies,” said Greene.

In addition, Michael H. Malim, DPhil, department of infectious diseases, Guys, King’s and St. Thomas’ School of Medicine, will discuss his work on the factor, Vif, which has been featured in a cover story in Nature.  “The identification of the natural inhibitor of HIV, Vif, whose action is defeated by HIV, represents a seminal advance. Now the challenge is to understand how this factor achieves its anti-viral effects and to exploit this understanding for the benefit of HIV-infected patients,” said Greene.

The symposium will begin at 1:00 pm Friday, September 20, with remarks by Paul A. Volberding, MD, co-director of the UCSF-GIVI CFAR, professor and vice-chair, UCSF School of Medicine, and chief of the Medical Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Sundquist will present his keynote at 1:05 pm and Malim will present his research at 4:00 pm.

## For the Complete Schedule of the UC SF-GIVI CFAR Symposium:

http://cfar.ucsf.edu/symp2002_agenda.html

For more information, or to RSVP, please contact Jeff Sheehy at (415) 597-8165.