22nd Annual United States Conference on AIDS (USCA)

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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. As one of the largest domestic HIV/AIDS conferences with a community focus, USCA receives an average attendance of 3,000 people. 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, 25 posters and 5 plenary sessions. While the 2018 USCA is taking place in Orlando, FL, the conference has been held in Washington, DC in alternating years to ensure maximum attendance by federal representatives. USCA focuses on a variety of HIV/AIDS issues. Within the past 5 years, the conference has innovated by moving from a program developed mainly through abstract submissions to include curated content through the addition of pathway sessions. Curated content is presented in the form of pathway sessions – 4 workshops created by recognized leaders in a particular topic area. USCA hosts 22 pathway sessions on a variety of topics (such as aging, structural interventions, and youth). Additionally, several federal agencies have partnered with USCA to conduct pathways on prevention, care and treatment, hepatitis, PrEP, viral suppression and stigma in minority communities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration and HHS' Secretary's Minority AIDS Initiative Fund). Remaining workshops and poster sessions are filled through a call for abstract submissions. Abstract submissions are reviewed by several track committees comprised of experts of their field. Conference tracks feature workshops and poster sessions in the areas of biomedical HIV prevention, gay men, leadership, people living with HIV, stigma and public policy. Tracks and Pathway topics are reviewed each year and are changed as necessary to reflect current issues and OAR HIV/AIDS Priorities. Conference support from the NIH R13 grant will be used to fund scholarships that will include people living with HIV over 50, cis and trans women, emerging youth leaders and people of color. As collaborators, the DC CFAR leadership and HIV investigators from eight DC-based institutions can contribute their guidance and expertise as NMAC develops the 2018 agenda.