HIV Reservoir Characterisation Workshop:
18-20 september 2019
Scope
The workshop will provide the participants with a thorough understanding of HIV quantification tools including PCR-based and cell-based functional assays, which are of great importance in therapy monitoring for the development of HIV cure strategies. An introductory course to ex vivo viral outgrowth assays and its use to quantify the replication competent HIV reservoir will be covered. The participants will receive an intensive training on PCR, qPCR, digital and digital droplet PCR methods with a comprehensive overview of clinical use of these methods and clinical significance of various HIV markers. Novel aspects of HIV persistence such as clonal expansion and integration site will also be discussed and thorough overview of assays to monitor them will be presented. Given that the host’s immune system is an indispensable component of an effective cure strategy, in addition to virological assays, the workshop for the first time will present an overview of immunological assays that are commonly used to assess the potency of both the cellular and humoral immune system. The workshop will conclude with comprehensive hands-on sessions that will include statistical data analysis training sessions.
Target audience
Researchers interested in: low level RNA or DNA quantification by digital PCR and immune monitoring assays especially in the field of HIV research.
Expected number of participants
20-30
Tentative program
Day 1 Virology part 1 | Day 2 Virology part 2 and Immunology | Day 3 hands on | |
---|---|---|---|
08.30-09.30 | Registration and breakfast | Registration and breakfast | Registration and breakfast |
09.00-11.00 | 1. Linos Vandekerckhove: Introduction (clinical studies to evaluate markers of HIV reservoir) | 6. Marie-Angelique De Scheerder: Set up a clinical trial | Seminar by Biorad and Naica |
2. Maria Buzon: Practical application of ex vivo reservoir quantification and FISH Flow | 7. Basiel Cole: workflow of integration site analysis | ||
11.00-11.15 | Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break |
11.15-12.45 | 3. Ward De Spiegelaere: Description of PCR based methods: PCR, qPCR, digital PCR, digital droplet PCR | 8. Laurens Lambrechts: Near full length sequencing | Seminar by Biorad and Naica |
12:45-14:00 | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch |
14:00-15:30 | 4. Wim Trypsteen and Laurens Lambrechts: Clinical applicability and workflow of PCR methods to detect HIV RNA markers. | 9. Wojchiech Witkowski: Introduction to immune monitoring assays | Data Analysis |
15:30-16:00 | Coffee break | Coffee break | Closing Remarks and feedback |
16:00-17:30 | 5. Eva Malatinkova: Clinical applicability and workflow of PCR methods to detect HIV DNA markers | 10. Susan Ribeiro: Characterizing of the HIV reservoir in vitro and ex vivo |
Practical Information
Registration
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The amount of participants is limited to 30 researchers
Venue
