In this episode of Going Anti-Viral, Rebecca Denison joins host Dr Michael Saag as a follow-up discussion to her Martin Delaney presentation at CROI 2025: 40+ Years of HIV: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t, What Shouldn’t, What Must. Ms Denison is an HIV-positive writer, educator, mother, and founder of WORLD, Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases. Dr Saag and Ms Denison reflect on her history of living with HIV and her 40 + years as an HIV activist. They discuss the impact that recent cuts at USAID and PEPFAR are having international efforts to reduce HIV transmission and the loss in trust in healthcare practitioners since programs have been terminated. They also discuss concerns about cuts to federal funding for HIV care programs in the US and the impact of recent loss of staff expertise at federal agencies. Finally, Dr Saag and Ms Denison ask all care clinicians to share their stories to their communities as a way of becoming advocates for the importance of HIV care.

0:00 – Introduction

2:41 – History of Ms Denison’s activism in HIV and AIDS

4:58 – Discussion of the gap in HIV care since the termination of USAID and PEPFAR contracts

8:29 – The loss of trust in global HIV health care practitioners and stories of growing HIV transmission since funding for care has been terminated

14:24 – Risks of funding cuts to domestic HIV care programs and Medicaid

18:02 – How a younger generation of advocates can learn from the history of HIV activism

19:51 – The message sent by the reorganization of HHS and the dismissal of leading HIV experts

22:06 – How clinicians can be an advocates for HIV care

Watch/Listen to related episodes:

Special Episode YouTube | Apple Podcasts 40+ Years of HIV: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t, What Shouldn’t, What Must. The Martin Delaney presentation at CROI by Rebecca Denison

Episode 43 YouTube | Apple Podcasts Innovations in HIV Service Delivery with Dr Izukanji Sikazwe

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Produced by IAS-USA, Going anti–Viral is a podcast for clinicians involved in research and care in HIV, its complications, and other viral infections. This podcast is intended as a technical source of information for specialists in this field, but anyone listening will enjoy learning more about the state of modern medicine around viral infections.

Going anti-Viral’s host is Dr Michael Saag, a physician, prominent HIV researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and volunteer IAS–USA board member. In most episodes, Dr Saag interviews an expert in infectious diseases or emerging pandemics about their area of specialty and current developments in the field. Other episodes are drawn from the IAS–USA vast catalogue of panel discussions, Dialogues, and other audio from various meetings and conferences.

Email podcast@iasusa.org to send feedback, show suggestions, or questions to be answered on a later episode.

Follow Going anti-Viral on:
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In this episode of Going Anti-Viral, Dr Raymond Schinazi joins host Dr Michael Saag for an in-depth conversation about the development of a cure for hepatitis C. Dr Schinazi, the Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at Emory University, shares insights from his distinguished career in antiviral research and development. He begins by outlining his background and long-standing interest in antiviral therapies, including groundbreaking work in HIV treatment. The conversation then shifts to his pivotal role in the development of sofosbuvir, a breakthrough direct-acting antiviral drug in the cure for hepatitis C, and the importance of NS5A inhibitors in antiviral drug regimens. Dr Schinazi also offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the business and regulatory journey of bringing a transformative therapy to market, reflecting on the personal impact of this milestone. The episode concludes with a discussion of his current research into potential treatments for hepatitis B.

0:00 – Introduction

1:24 – Overview of Dr Schinazi’s background and his interest in antiviral therapy

2:56 – Discussion of Dr Schinazi’s work in the development of antiviral agents for HIV

4:45 – Background on the development of sofosbuvir for the cure of hepatitis C

10:01 – The role of NS5A inhibitors in treatment

12:42 – History of bringing hepatitis C treatment to market

14:25 – Discussion of the effectiveness of NS5A inhibitors

16:49 – The risk of reinfection and review of the basic science behind pharmaceuticals for hepatitis C

18:22 – How the discovery of a hepatitis C cure impacted Dr Schinazi personally

25:16 – Overview of Dr Schinazi’s current research in Hepatitis B

__________________________________________________

Produced by IAS-USA, Going anti–Viral is a podcast for clinicians involved in research and care in HIV, its complications, and other viral infections. This podcast is intended as a technical source of information for specialists in this field, but anyone listening will enjoy learning more about the state of modern medicine around viral infections.

Going anti-Viral’s host is Dr Michael Saag, a physician, prominent HIV researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and volunteer IAS–USA board member. In most episodes, Dr Saag interviews an expert in infectious diseases or emerging pandemics about their area of specialty and current developments in the field. Other episodes are drawn from the IAS–USA vast catalogue of panel discussions, Dialogues, and other audio from various meetings and conferences.

Email podcast@iasusa.org to send feedback, show suggestions, or questions to be answered on a later episode.

Follow Going anti-Viral on:
Apple Podcasts
YouTube
X
Facebook
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...

In this episode of Going anti-Viral, Dr Michael Saag speaks with Dr Graham Hatfull, a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr Hatfull joins Dr Saag to discuss Bacteriophages for the treatment of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacterial infections. Dr Hatfull provides an overview of the types of bacteriophages and how they can be used to treat antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Dr Hatfull and Dr Saag discuss the challenges of treating bacterial infections with phages given the diversity and complexity of the different types of bacteria and bringing phage treatments to scale. Finally, they discuss what research is needed to overcome the challenges of phage treatment and look to the future where technology enables synthetically produced phages to provide targeted therapy to antimicrobial resistant bacteria.

0:00 – Introduction

1:05 – Overview of bacteriophages and Dr Hatfull's interest in phage research

2:46 – How phages can be used clinically for antimicrobial-resistant bacteria

4:34 – Differences between the 2 types of phages: lytic phages and temperate phages

6:01 – How phages are used to target specific types of bacteria

9:37 – The challenge of phage treatment matching and natural CRISPR processes within bacteria

15:16 – Understanding the phage genome diversity

18:59 – Discussion of therapeutic uses of phages

28:32 – Prospect of phages for future treatments including synthetic phages

Resources:

Harnessing the Power of Bacteriophages with Dr Robert Schooley:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/_BUpDRNhMsQ
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-10-harnessing-the-power-of-bacteriophages/id1713226144?i=1000647215580

Exploring Bacteriophage Therapy for Drug-Resistant Bacterial Infections Robert T. Schooley, MD: https://www.iasusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/31-1-23.pdf

The inaugural Conference on Bacteriophages: Biology, Dynamics, and Therapeutics: https://www.iasusa.org/bacteriophage-conference/

__________________________________________________

Produced by IAS-USA, Going anti–Viral is a podcast for clinicians involved in research and care in HIV, its complications, and other viral infections. This podcast is intended as a technical source of information for specialists in this field, but anyone listening will enjoy learning more about the state of modern medicine around viral infections.

Going anti-Viral’s host is Dr Michael Saag, a physician, prominent HIV researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and volunteer IAS–USA board member. In most episodes, Dr Saag interviews an expert in infectious diseases or emerging pandemics about their area of specialty and current developments in the field. Other episodes are drawn from the IAS–USA vast catalogue of panel discussions, Dialogues, and other audio from various meetings and conferences.

Email podcast@iasusa.org to send feedback, show suggestions, or questions to be answered on a later episode.

Follow Going anti-Viral on:
Apple Podcasts
YouTube
X
Facebook
Instagram
...