Today, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published interim guidelines for US healthcare providers on the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the administration of antiretrovirals (ARVs) to prevent HIV infection. For now, the CDC recommends that PrEP be considered only for adult men who have sex with men (MSM) at high risk of HIV infection through sex (see complete guidelines). Ken Mayer, medical research director of Fenway Health in Boston, says the CDC’s interim guidelines represent the first "statement about the use of chemoprophylaxis" for HIV. 　

We're quite enamored with finding beauty in science, whether it's some of the striking images created using electron microscopy or artistic renderings like the one of a dendritic cell that graced IAVI Report cover last year (Looks like a flower, no?).

Two years ago, we ran this headline on the front cover of IAVI Report: Will a Pill a Day Keep HIV at Bay? Well, today, that question was answered. And the answer is, yes it will.

This week, the US National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) unveiled plans for the second iteration of the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), a virtual research consortium established five years ago by NIAID to coordinate research and promote big science efforts to overcome key immunological roadblocks to HIV vaccine development. The original CHAVI received a whopping US$300 million over seven years, ending in 2012. NIAID says a new request for applications (RFA) for the second generation CHAVI should be formally announced within six to eight months. Details of the plans for the new CHAVI RFA were provided by Stuart Shapiro, the NIAID Program Officer Team Leader for CHAVI, at the AIDS Research Advisory Council meeting on September 20 in Bethesda, Maryland, and at the AIDS Vaccine Research Subcommittee (AVRS) meeting the following day in Rockville, Maryland.