25th Annual United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA)

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT In 1996, a group of national HIV organizations came together to create the United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) – then known as the National Skills Building Conference. Led by NMAC, this coalition understood the value of bringing together the diverse communities impacted by the disease to be educated on the latest science, build support and bring hope to people facing an epidemic. In 2020, this was renamed as the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA). As one of the largest domestic HIV/AIDS conferences with a community focus, USCHA receives an average attendance of 3,000 people each year. Attendees include case managers, representatives from local, state and federal government, capacity building providers, researchers, representatives from national AIDS services organizations, pharmaceutical representatives, peer navigators and people living with HIV. Skills building takes place in the form of over 100, 2-hour workshops and 4 plenary sessions. USCHA is held every other year in Washington, DC to ensure the maximum possible participation by federal representatives. The 2020 USCHA was planned to be held in San Juan, PR from October 10-13 but pivoted to a virtual platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 USCHA will be held in Washington, DC at the Marriott Marquis Hotel from September 9-12. USCHA focuses on a range of HIV/AIDS issues. Content is developed and organized for the conference through various channels including institutes, conference tracks and through the submission of abstracts. The conference has moved from a program developed mainly through abstract submissions to include curated content identified by the conference planning committee and direct outreach to subject matter experts. Several federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration and HHS’ Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund, have partnered with USCHA to conduct workshops on prevention, care and treatment, hepatitis, PrEP, viral suppression and stigma in minority communities. Other workshops are filled through a call for abstract submissions which are reviewed by committees of experts in their respective fields. The conference is organized into Conference Tracks that feature workshops in the areas of biomedical HIV prevention, gay men, leadership, people living with HIV, stigma and public policy. Each year, tracks are reviewed and changed as needed to reflect current issues and OAR HIV/AIDS Priorities. NMAC previously partnered with the DC CFAR to host a series of workshops on HIV treatment and cure research. The UNC CFAR looks forward to continuing this partnership. Conference support from the NIH R13 grant will be used to support this collaboration and to fund conference scholarships for people living with HIV over 50, cis and trans women, emerging youth leaders and people of color. As collaborators, the UNC CFAR leadership and HIV investigators will contribute their guidance and expertise as NMAC develops the 2021 agenda.