D.C. Council Member Marion Barry Proposes Mandatory HIV Testing For Inmates - In Washington D.C., a bill proposed by council member Marion Barry (D-Ward8) calls for mandatory HIV tests of all inmates upon entering jail. The new measure is meant to curb the city’s alarming HIV rate, which is the highest in the country. However, the directors of D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, D.C. Corrections, and HIV/AIDS Administration oppose the bill. They support the current voluntary program, in which 99 percent of inmates have chosen to get tested to date. For more information, please read the news article by The Washington Post.

‘Project Runway’ Designer Launches HIV/AIDS Education Online Video Series - Season four ‘Project Runway’ designer Jack Mackenroth launched the first video of this series, called “Living Positive By Design: Creating Positive Conversations”. The video was launched on Tuesday, and is supported by pharmaceutical company Merck. The aims of the program are to improve HIV-positive people’s outlook on life, remove HIV stigma, and facilitate conversations about the disease. To learn more, please visit the Living Positive By Design Web site or read the news article released by Merck & Co.

Scientists Develop Promising Antibodies For HIV Vaccine - In a study published on August 25, researchers created artificial antibodies that recognize both HIV surface proteins and lipids for the first time. The antibodies mimic neutralizing human antibodies and may be effective in an HIV vaccine. The research was conducted by the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and was published in the online version of AIDS, the official journal of the International AIDS Society. For more information, please visit the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Web site.