Highlights: October 2024 NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council Meeting

Including introduction to new OAR Director, updates on the next HIV research strategic plan, and the lenacapavir story

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC) convened its 67^th meeting virtually on October 24.

OARAC provides advice to the NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) on the planning, coordination, and evaluation of research and other HIV activities conducted or supported by NIH.

Meeting highlights included the introduction of Geri R. Donenberg, Ph.D. at her first meeting as OAR Director; a presentation by Wesley I. Sundquist, Ph.D., on how NIH-supported fundamental discoveries contributed to the development of an innovative HIV prevention drug, lenacapavir; and updates from OARAC task forces guiding the development of the next HIV strategic plan.

Report From the OAR Director

Geri R. Donenberg, Ph.D., gave her first report to OARAC as OAR Director. She thanked the previous Acting Director, Diana Finzi, Ph.D., M.P.H., for her service to OAR and welcomed four new OARAC members–

Dr. Donenberg provided insight into her priorities as she steps into her role as OAR Director, sharing her passion for advancing evidence-based interventions that make a global impact against HIV and the critical importance of NIH-funded HIV research in addressing equity in timeliness, reach, and uptake of life-saving innovations. She highlighted the importance of implementation science to improve public health and drive forward NIH’s efforts to achieve HIV epidemic control.

Highlights from Dr. Donenberg’s report included—

The Fiscal Year 2026 HIV/AIDS Professional Judgment Budget, which is now available on the OAR website.
Opportunities to provide input on the 2026-2030 national strategic plans for sexually transmitted infections, vaccines, and viral hepatitis and input on the 2026-2030 National HIV/AIDS Strategy, through a Request for Information issued by the HHS Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy and White House Office of National AIDS Policy that is currently open.
Recent HIV conference updates, including the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) which featured an interagency discussion on syndemics, and a workshop and listening session focusing on Tribal health hosted by OAR and NIH’s Tribal Health Research Office in partnership with the Indian Health Service. The breakthrough PURPOSE 1 trial was presented at the 25^th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2024) and the PURPOSE 2 study at the International AIDS Society’s 5th HIV Research for Prevention Conference (HIVR4P), showcasing tremendous HIV prevention efficacy results of the new drug lenacapavir among cisgender women and cisgender gay, bisexual and other men, trans women, trans men and gender non-binary individuals, respectively. Dr. Donenberg noted, “The development of lenacapavir underscores the critical role of NIH investments in fundamental research, leading to innovative therapies that could significantly reduce global HIV cases.”
Upcoming OAR participation in key meetings, including the 15^th International Workshop on HIV & Aging, the 28^th Annual National Centers for AIDS Research Meeting, and the 83rd meeting of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA).
Plans for the virtual NIH World AIDS Day event on December 4.
Overview of the development of the Fiscal Year 2026-2030 NIH Strategic Plan on HIV and HIV-Related Research, including the process underway to develop the plan, completed milestones, and immediate next steps.

Structure, Function, and Inhibition of the HIV Capsid

Wesley I. Sundquist, Ph.D., Samuels Professor and Co-Chair, Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah School of Medicine

Dr. Sundquist detailed the fundamental discoveries underlying the development of lenacapavir, the first in a new class of ARVs called capsid inhibitors that was tested for efficacy in the PURPOSE 1 and 2 trials noted above. His presentation provided a step-by-step description of the key discoveries related to the HIV capsid, lenacapavir’s target in the virus, which is built from the capsid protein (CA). He described the structure, assembly, and role the capsid and CA protein play in HIV viral function, transport, and integration with host cells.

Dr. Sundquist underscored the critical importance of NIH-supported fundamental discoveries to better understand the basic biology of the HIV capsid and how HIV interacts with and enters host cells. This body of knowledge requires continual creation of innovative tools and techniques to address these and other critical research questions. Dr. Sundquist further elevated the important role of public-private partnerships that make milestones like drug development possible.

Task Force Report-Outs: NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-Related Research

Geetanjali Bansal, M.Sc., Ph.D., Senior Science Advisor, Office of AIDS Research, NIH
Luis Montaner, D.V.M., M.Sc., D.Phil., Chair, Basic and Preclinical Research Task Force; Executive Vice President, The Wistar Institute
Roy (Trip) Gulick, M.D., M.P.H., Chair, Clinical and Intervention Research Task Force; Rochelle Belfer Professor in Medicine and Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Weill Cornell Medicine
Omar Galárraga, Ph.D., Chair, BSSR and Implementation Research Task Force; Professor, Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health

The chairs of three HIV Strategic Plan Task Forces convened by OAR reported on their work to identify funding priorities for the next strategic plan.

The HIV Strategic Plan Task Forces are short-term, multidisciplinary working groups representing a broad diversity of subject matter expertise and experience in HIV science, practice, policy, and lived experience with HIV.

The Task Forces were charged with developing recommendations for funding priorities to highlight within the strategic plan framework and objectives presented during the June 2024 OARAC meeting. These recommendations and priorities were informed by input from a broad range of interested parties—including researchers, health care professionals, advocates and health advocacy organizations, scientific and professional organizations, government agencies, and community members—gathered via OAR listening sessions, workshops, and Requests for Information. The three Task Forces were focused on: basic biomedical and preclinical research; behavioral, social, and implementation research; and clinical and intervention research.

The chairs of each Task Force presented a list of recommended priorities under each sub-objective of the framework for OARAC’s consideration. As a next step, OARAC will finalize the Task Forces’ recommendations and deliver them to the OAR Director to inform the development of the Strategic Plan.

Updates and Next Meeting

Carl Dieffenbach, Ph.D., Director, Division of AIDS, NIH
Marguerita Lightfoot, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research, Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University School of Public Health
Melanie Ott, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Shireesha Dhanireddy, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Madison Clinic; Director, Harborview Infectious Diseases & Travel Clinic; Co-Founder S.H.E. (Safe.Health.Empowered) Clinic
Roy (Trip) Gulick, M.D., Rochelle Belfer Professor in Medicine and Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Weill Cornell Medicine
Franklin Yates, M.D., M.A., Medical Officer, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH

The meeting concluded with updates from—

NIH advisory bodies, including the AIDS Research Advisory Committee (ARAC), the National Advisory Mental Health Council (NAMHC), and the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (NACDA). This included an update on the renewal of the HIV Clinical Trials Networks, as well as an update on concepts cleared by NIH Institute, Center, and Office (ICO) Councils.
HIV Clinical Guidelines Working Groups of OARAC, which shared updates to several clinical guidelines, including new recommendations to prevent anal cancer for people with HIV, the first U.S. federal guidelines on the topic.

The full meeting is available on NIH VideoCast, and meeting minutes will be posted on the OAR website.

The next OARAC meeting is scheduled for February 20, 2025. An agenda and additional details will be available on the OAR website. OARAC welcomes public comments via email to OARACinfo@nih.gov.

This page last reviewed on December 12, 2024