The 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment, and Prevention, IAS 2011, will start in Rome, Italy, this Sunday, July 17, and will run through Wednesday, July 20.

The conference – held every two years – brings together over 5,000 scientists, policy makers, health workers, activists, business leaders, and people with HIV and AIDS.

The meeting will include new research on a variety of topics, including basic science aspects of HIV and AIDS, new treatments and treatment strategies, complications of HIV and antiretroviral therapy, and progress toward a cure for HIV.

Beginning next week, The AIDS Beacon will feature select topics and research from IAS 2011.

Plenary speakers will include Dr. Giovanni Di Perri from the University of Turin in Italy, who will discuss HIV treatment in 2011, and Dr. Eric Verdin from the University of California, San Francisco, who will discuss HIV cure research.

Researchers will also present updated information on the safety and efficacy of several investigational antiretrovirals, including lersivirine, a potential new non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor from Pfizer; and dolutegravir, an investigational integrase inhibitor from GlaxoSmithKline.

In addition, there will be sessions on premature aging of people with HIV, the next generation of HIV treatments, and progress toward a therapeutic vaccine for HIV. Therapeutic vaccines are vaccines that try to reduce or eliminate the need for antiretrovirals in people who already have HIV.

To increase access to the conference, IAS 2011 organizers will post updates to the IAS 2011 blog. The conference also has a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, and a YouTube channel.

For more information please see the IAS 2011 conference website.