Articles matching the ‘Research’ Category

March 13th, 2024

CROI 2024 Denver: Really Rapid Review

One of the most rewarding things about social media in medicine is tapping into the minds of other smart people in your field, especially people you can’t otherwise interact with on a day-to-day basis. When that person is someone like Dr. Sébastien Poulin — a funny and indefatigable ID/HIV doctor from Montreal — it’s especially worthwhile. […]


March 2nd, 2024

Just as CROI Gets Ready to Start, an Important Change to the IAS-USA HIV Treatment Guidelines

One of the top experiences of my ID career has been working with a research group that does HIV disease modeling. The people involved are without exception smart, collaborative, generous, funny, and hard-working — an amazing combination of positive traits. They get this, I believe, from their leader and founder, Dr. Ken Freedberg, who sets a […]


October 31st, 2023

HIV Research Highlights from IDWeek 2023

Having already featured an important non-HIV clinical research study from IDWeek — the amazing ACORN trial — I turn now to a grab bag of HIV-related studies, a veritable Halloween treat bag full of them. (Note to self: What’s with that “Halloween treat bag” reference? Couldn’t you come up with a less awkward way to link […]


October 17th, 2023

A Brilliant Strategy for Conducting Clinical Trials — The ACORN Study

The secret to doing a great clinical trial is quite simple. Here, I’ll share it with you: Come up with an important clinical question for which there’s true equipoise. Choose primary and secondary endpoints that people care about. Make the inclusion and exclusion criteria easy to understand and chosen so that they define a readily available […]


October 8th, 2023

An October ID (and Non-ID) Link-o-Rama

For those venturing next week to IDWeek here in Boston, fall gives us our very best weather. Comfortable sunny days with brilliant blue skies, cool evenings, low humidity — great weather for exercising and sleeping. Usually you just need a light jacket. And now, after one of the rainiest Septembers on record (boo!), October has […]


September 22nd, 2023

Long-Acting Cabotegravir-Rilpivirine for People Not Taking Oral Therapy — Time to Modify Treatment Guidelines?

HIV treatment guidelines are understandably reluctant to endorse practices that have limited data. Having served on two such panels (previously, DHHS and currently, the IAS-USA guidelines), I totally get this — you don’t want to put a stamp of approval on strategies that may ultimately do more harm than good. With the caveat that I cannot […]


August 18th, 2023

My Vote for the Weirdest Antibiotic on the Planet

If you’re an ID doctor, there’s an excellent chance you’ve treated patients who have non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) with clofazimine. In fact, based on a poll done with the utmost scientific rigor, it’s well more than half of you. And if you’re not an ID doctor, there’s a decent chance you’ve never even heard of it — […]


August 9th, 2023

Really Rapid Review — Brisbane IAS 2023

You’ll find some conference highlights listed below from the 12th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (or IAS 2023), which took place in lovely Brisbane — where the late July weather was delightful, the ubiquitous ibis was the local nuisance bird, and the riverside parks went on and on and on. Some might wonder if […]


June 2nd, 2023

Continued Activity of NRTIs Despite Resistance Is a Real Thing

In our last post, we reviewed a case of a person with longstanding HIV with extensive multi-class resistance, but now a decade of viral suppression. They’re currently on an HIV treatment regimen of fully active raltegravir, partially active etravirine, and barely active (or not active at all!) darunavir. There are no NRTIs in the regimen, […]


May 15th, 2023

Types of HIV Papers — A Quick Guide

I spend a lot of my time reading HIV clinical research papers. A lot.  So here, for your viewing pleasure, is a poster I updated and modified from a brilliant xkcd web comic (using this tool), describing some common HIV clinical research themes. Suitable for framing, it should prove helpful as you embark on your next […]


HIV Information: Author Paul Sax, M.D.

Paul E. Sax, MD

Contributing Editor

NEJM Journal Watch
Infectious Diseases

Biography | Disclosures | Summaries

Learn more about HIV and ID Observations.