HIV Research & Clinical Practice

Over 40 years since HIV/AIDS was first identified, antiretroviral therapies (ART) have made HIV a manageable chronic condition for most people with HIV (PWH) globally. The last few years have witnessed the rapid development of highly efficacious long-acting injectable ART, digital health technologies, and integrated and person-centred care. Concurrently, the search towards an HIV cure to confer sustained ART-free suppression or eliminate HIV continues.

The importance of person/participant-perspectives on advances in HIV therapies has become paramount. While an exciting field, research on HIV novel therapies and integrated care pathways is becoming increasingly crowded. Eventual uptake of emerging HIV therapies will depend on how PWH perceive and experience research and interventions, including impacts on their well-being, quality of life, and mental health.

This special issue will focus on person/participant-centred approaches to advances in HIV clinical care. Research and/or review articles highlighting person/participant-centred perspectives on integrated interventions, novel therapies, or cure-related research are requested to provide insights into how PWH or people who care for them view these innovations.

Important topics that will be included in this Article Collection include:

• Persons/participants or provider attitudes about different ART options or modes of delivery
• HIV cure-related research (including analytical treatment interruptions)
• Person-centred designs to advance HIV care
• Recruitment or retention approaches for studies on advances to HIV therapies
• Approaches to improving HIV treatment or cure research outcomes in racial, ethnic, sex and gender-diverse groups
• Approaches to reducing stigma
• Approaches to improving mental health, well-being and quality of life of PWH
• Improvements in HIV interventions across the lifespan (including aging, co-morbidities, polypharmacy issues and issues relevant for immune non-responders)
• Implementing or moving research of novel HIV therapies to resource-limited parts of the world (Majority World)
• Digital or mHealth advances in HIV care
• Integrated health systems and preparedness

Contributions should attempt to incorporate clinical care for PWH, social and behavioral sciences, community-engaged research, ethical aspects, and public health aspects of advances in HIV care.

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Dr. Karine Dubé is Associate Professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health. She is a senior socio-behavioural scientist and experienced research program manager who integrates biomedical, social sciences, ethics, and patient engagement around HIV-related research in the United States and South Africa. For more details: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/karine.dube

David Lessard, PhD in Anthropology, is a Research Associate at the Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. His research focuses on the integration of patient and stakeholder perspective in clinical research through the inclusion of qualitative methods, participatory approaches, and implementation science.

Disclosure Statement:

Dr. Karine Dubé  and Dr. David Lessard declare no conflict of interest.

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