© Copyright: 2021 IAS – the International AIDS Society
Regular abstract submission is now closed.
Notifications of acceptance or rejection have been sent to all submitting authors.
Late-breaker abstract submission closed on 10 May 2021.
Members of the IAS 2021 Scientific Programme Committee will make the final selection of late-breaker abstracts. Notification of acceptance or non-acceptance of abstracts will be sent to the submitting author by mid to end of June 2021. It is the submitting author’s responsibility to inform all co-authors of the status of the abstract.
15 December 2020
Online abstract submission opens
15 February 2021
23:59 C.E.T
Abstract submission closes. Abstracts, as well as amendments to submitted abstracts, will not be accepted after this date (except for late breakers)
20 April 2021
Late-breaker abstract submission opens
10 May 2021
Late-breaker abstract submission closes
Scientific tracks
IAS 2021 – the 11th IAS Conference on HIV Science – welcomes abstracts for original contributions to the field in the following scientific tracks:
- Track A: Basic science
- Track B: Clinical science
- Track C: Prevention science
- Track D: Social, behavioural and implementation science
Each scientific track is divided into a number of track categories. All abstract authors are asked to choose one scientific track and one track category during the submission process.
By submitting an abstract to the conference, you agree to adhere to the conference embargo policy. The policy specifies that while authors may publish the fact that their abstract has been selected for inclusion in the conference programme, data from the abstract may NOT be shared in any form (print, broadcast or online publication, media release or conference presentation) prior to its official presentation at IAS 2021.
Track A – Basic Science
With the availability of effective antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, which extends the lifespan of people infected with HIV, there is a growing population of older individuals living with HIV who experience an accentuated age-associated decline despite ARV treatment. For these individuals, there is an urgent need to address the potential drivers of health-related decline and persistent immune dysfunction. Concurrently, the majority of people living with HIV reside in resource-limited settings and, while vulnerable to co-infections, face fragmented health systems, which increases their risks for chronic co-morbidities. Additionally, finding curative strategies that allow people living with HIV to achieve and remain in remission and safely stop ARVs remains a high priority in light of the significant financial and infrastructural constraints associated with sustaining life-long antiretroviral therapy for an estimated 38 million people living with HIV globally.
Against this background, Track A will highlight the latest scientific findings that help advance our understanding of the interplay between HIV pathogenesis, co-infections, co-morbidities and inflammation in people living with HIV and how these intersect with HIV and age-related outcomes. Track A will further present recent findings regarding the clinical, viral and host factors that modulate the establishment and size of the latent reservoir, newest methodologies to measure HIV latency, and interventions that have shown greatest promise in reversing or permanently silencing latency. In addition, this track will also focus on potential applications of immunotherapy to improve HIV-related immunity, the current status of prophylactic and preventative vaccines, as well as advances in B cell receptor engineering to optimize the utilization of broadly neutralizing antibodies as prevention and treatment.
Download the full list of Track A abstract submission categories
Track B – Clinical Science
As life expectancy of people living with HIV increases and a broadly applicable HIV cure strategy is not to be expected soon, long-term treatment remains the method of choice to prevent HIV disease progression for the coming years. While the scale up of antiretroviral therapy has significantly reduced the devastating impact of the global HIV epidemic in recent decades, kidney disease, neurocognitive disorders and certain cancers remain continual challenges in the antiretroviral therapy (ART) era. People living with HIV, including individuals receiving ART, show an increased risk of ischemic heart disease and other serious cardiovascular conditions. Tuberculosis remains the leading cause of death among people living with HIV, who are also at six times higher odds of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection than their HIV‐negative counterparts.
New developments in ART, including treatment simplification, novel antiretrovirals and immunotherapy, will be key components of this track. The track includes new drug therapies, pharmacokinetics, drug interaction, adherence, short- and long-term adverse events and drug resistance. Biomedical aspects of treatment, care and support in specific populations will be highlighted and specific emphasis placed on interactions with COVID-19. In addition to latest research findings and controversies related to the diagnosis, treatment and management of HIV infection, Track B will encompass the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of opportunistic infections, co-infections and other long-term complications and co-morbidities.
Download the full list of Track B abstract submission categories
Track C – Prevention Science
The prevention science track will present updates on the HIV prevention pipeline from evidence of successes through obstacles in the roll out of existing prevention modalities to their impact on the HIV epidemiology in different populations and geographic areas. Newly identified and promising products in clinical and pre-clinical development will be discussed: these include injectable and implantable long-acting antiretroviral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), different types and combinations of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and innovative HIV testing modalities in combination with modalities of delivery of antiretroviral drugs. A major area of focus will be the future direction of HIV vaccine research.
Download the full list of Track C abstract submission categories
Track D – Behavioural, Social and Implementation Science
Evidence suggests that the available toolkit of evidence-based biomedical, behavioural and structural practices and interventions (EBPIs) could end the HIV epidemic, including when combined. Translation of emerging evidence into enabling policies and routine care, however, remains slow, due in part to challenges in adapting results from controlled trials into real-life settings and transferring implementation science results across contexts. The challenges of adaptation and transfer impede our ability to scale up effective prevention and treatment strategies to reach global targets. Emerging EBPIs have been adapted for some key populations and, in some contexts, this has resulted in innovations in differentiated care and test and treat models of care. However, incorporation of syndemic strategies, integrated comprehensive care delivery, optimization of technology to facilitate delivery and sustainability will be critical for optimal scale up. At the same time, many local innovations in the delivery of HIV interventions remain “case studies” of limited validity because they have never been rigorously tested.
Track D will showcase research on implementation innovations and provide a critical assessment of the factors that promote or impede adoption and scale up of novel delivery models, with emphasis on emerging strategies like eHealth/mHealth, collaborative learning and community-participatory models of service delivery, strengthening of health systems, and policy development as tools to accelerate the discovery-policy-implementation trajectory. Analysis of economic and political factors that impact service delivery will also be explored to cover multi-level implementation science strategies where new evidence will be presented.
Download the full list of track D abstract submission categories
Late-breaker abstracts
A small number of late-breaker abstracts will be accepted for oral or poster presentation at the conference.
The late-breaker abstract submission will be open from 20 April to 10 May 2021. Late–breaker submissions must introduce data of unquestioned significance that meet a high threshold of scientific merit.
During abstract submission, authors will have to justify why their abstract should be considered as a late breaker. The same submission rules apply for late-breaker abstracts as for regular abstracts, but each presenting author may present only one late-breaker abstract at the conference.
The percentage of abstracts selected for late breakers will depend on the number of submissions, but selection will be far more rigorous than for regular abstracts.
Questions?
For technical questions regarding the abstract submission system, please contact the Abstract Support team at [email protected].
For general questions regarding abstracts, please see the FAQ.
Submission notes
- Abstracts may be submitted through your conference profile until 15 February 2021 (23:59 CET). Track scope and objectives, track categories and full submission guidelines can be found below.
- Abstracts submitted to the conference will go through a blind peer-review process carried out by an international review panel. Members of the Scientific Programme Committee will make the final selection of abstracts by the end of April.
- The highest-scoring abstracts will be selected for presentation in oral abstract sessions. The majority of the selected posters will be displayed in the virtual poster exhibition.
- Young and/or less experienced abstract submitters may benefit from the Abstract Mentor Programme prior to abstract submission.
- All abstracts must be written in English.
- It is the author’s responsibility to submit an abstract with the correct wording. Any errors in spelling, grammar or scientific fact in the abstract text will be reproduced exactly as typed by the author. Abstract titles will be subject to a spellcheck if the abstract is selected for presentation.