Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Ananda M Chakrabarty
University of Illinois College of Medicine, USA
Keynote: Microorganisms and Their Products in Cancer Therapy and Prevention
Time : 10:15-11:15
Biography:
Ananda M. Chakrabarty is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. His research interest involves development of promiscuous bacterial protein/peptide drugs with anticancer, anti-viral and anti-parasitic activities. He is the co-founder of two start-up companies, CDG Therapeutics Inc. (www.cdgti.com) in Chicago and Amrita Therapeutics (www.amritatherapeutics.com) in India.
Abstract:
It is widely recognized that many bacteria can fight a variety of human diseases and indeed the American Academy of Microbiology convened an interesting meeting in 2014 in San Diego on the topic ‘Bugs as Drugs’, emphasizing the important role that bacteria play in fighting various diseases. The recent emphasis in this regard involves the role of human microbiome comprising of bacteria, archaea, fungi and protozoa, whose number is 10 fold higher than the human cells themselves. Many such gut bacteria have been implicated in immune modulation and protection of the human body from attacks by external pathogens. However, the disease-fighting role of pathogenic bacteria goes back more than 100 years when in 1892-93, William Coley in New York City’s Memorial Hospital observed that bacterial infections of his cancer patients often led to tumor regression. Since then, many efforts have been made and are continually being made to use genetically-modified bacteria to fight cancer, but only with limited success in the clinical trials because of the elimination of the cancer fighting bacteria by the patient’s immune system. Our efforts have not been directed to live bacteria, but protein products of pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. One such cancer fighting protein, azurin, has shown significant tumor regression in mice. Since proteins are designated as biologics, and thus requiring to undergo stringent regulation by the USFDA for clinical trials, a company CDG Therapeutics, Inc. (www.cdgti.com) has used a fragment of azurin termed p28, a peptide of 28 amino acids, for both pre-clinical and phase I clinical trials. P28 showed no toxicity in a variety of animals, whereupon the FDA approved a phase I trial of p28 in 15 stage IV cancer patients with solid tumors such as melanoma, colon, sarcoma, prostate and pancreas. These tumors were resistant to all conventional drugs and the patients were terminally ill with a life expectancy of about 6 months. When administered through intravenous injections, p28 demonstrated very little toxicity but significant beneficial effects including partial and complete regression of these drug resistant tumors in 4 patients. Encouraged by such results, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) sponsored a second phase I trial in 11 major hospitals in the US in pediatric brain tumor patients in October, 2013. That trial has been on-going for more than 2 years (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01975116) suggesting that p28 not only demonstrated acceptable toxicity but significant regression of the tumors in some patients. Indeed, it is important to note that the USFDA has approved on December 02, 2015, the designation of azurin-p28 as an orphan drug for the treatment of brain tumor glioma. Another company Amrita Therapeutics in India (www.amritatherapeutics.com) has developed similar bacterial peptides as potential anticancer drugs, indicating the role that bacterial proteins/peptides can play in cancer therapy.
Keynote Forum
Claudia Gravekamp
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA
Keynote: Live attenuated Listeria as new delivery platform for anticancer agents
Time : 11:35-12:20
Biography:
Claudia Gravekamp, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and a member of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center. She received her PhD in 1988 in the field of Tumor Immunology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. From 1987-1993, she served as head of the Laboratory for Leptospirosis at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In 1993, she started as a Research Fellow in Medicine at the Channing Laboratory of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, and soon thereafter became an Instructor in Medicine until 1998. There, she developed vaccines against Group B Streptococcus and gained expertise in the design and development of gene-driven vaccines. From 1998 to 2006, she was an Associate Member in the Institute for Drug Development of the Cancer Therapy and Research Center and an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, in San Antonio, TX. In San Antonio she began to develop a program aimed at genetic vaccines for breast cancer. From 2006-2008, she was a Scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco, CA, continuing to develop novel immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer utilizing an attenuated bacterium Listeria monocytogenes as selective delivery platform for anti-cancer agents, and study their efficacy in preclinical models at young and old age. Some of these approaches are now coming to fruition in her current laboratory at Einstein and begin to move towards clinical trials. Her laboratory was the first showing that live attenuated Listeria could be used to deliver therapeutic levels of radioactivity selectively to the metastases and tumors in mice with cancer. She has been funded by grants from the NIH (RO1, R21, RO3), other grant agencies and private industry since 1999), published 65 scientific articles, is ad-hoc reviewer for various scientific journals (Nature, Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy, Science Translational Medicine, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Cellular Immunology, J Immunol, Transplantation Infectious Disease, Biogerontology, Experimental Gerontology). She is reviewer on multiple NIH study sections.
Abstract:
Our laboratory has built a platform for the selective delivery of anticancer agents to the tumor microenvironment (TME) using a live attenuated bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. We discovered that Listeria could infect and kill tumor cells through reactive oxygen species, and selectively survives and multiplies in tumors and metastases but not in normal tissues because of the strong immune suppression in the TME that is absent in normal tissues. Listeria can infect tumor cells directly or through infection of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), which are selectively attracted to the TME through cytokines and chemokines. Once at the tumor site, Listeria efficiently moves from MDSC into tumor cells through a mechanism specific for Listeria. This novel discovery opened doors for the development of complete new therapies particularly for non-curable metastatic cancers. We developed Listeria-188Rhenium and Listeria-32P. Both have been tested in preclinical models for biodistribution, efficacy and safety. These radioactive Listeria bacteria strongly reduced the growth of the pancreatic cancer at early and advanced stages in various mouse tumor models, with practically no side effects. We also generated Listeria-based vaccines, expressing highly immunogenic “recall antigens” (RA) derived from tetanus toxoid (TT) protein, polio virus (PV) and measle virus (MV), which in combination with low doses of Gemcitabine, resulted in the reactivation of memory T cells to RA (generated during childhood vaccination and circulating in blood for life), now capable of killing Listeria-RA-infected tumor cells, with help of Gemcitabine-reduced immune suppression. These results demonstrate the potential of Listeria as selective delivery platform for anticancer agents. Delivery of adjuvants, RNAs, apoptotic genes, small molecules by Listeria to the TME could be a promising next step in the fight against metastatic cancer.
Keynote Forum
William M Gelbart
UCLA, USA
Keynote: Reconstituted virus-like particles as delivery systems for self-amplifying RNA genes for cancer detection and therapy
Time : 9:30-10:00
Biography:
Professor Gelbart was trained as a physical chemical theorist, obtaining his BS at Harvard University (1967) and his PhD at the University of Chicago (1970). After two years of postdoctoral work, at the University of Paris and UC Berkeley, he joined the Berkeley faculty in 1972, continuing his researches on the quantum theory of photochemistry. Prof. Gelbart moved to UCLA in 1975, switched fields, and became a leader in the then-emerging field of “complex fluids”, contributing significantly to the statistical mechanical theory of liquid crystals, polymer solutions, colloids, and selfâ€assembling systems. A dozen years ago he became deeply intrigued by viruses and, with his colleague Charles M. Knobler, established a laboratory to investigate simple viruses outside their hosts and isolated in test tubes. This work, along with that of several other groups in the States and Europe, helped launch the burgeoning field of “physical virology”. Prof. Gelbart’s interdisciplinary research has been recognized by many awards, including the 1991 Lennardâ€Jones Medal of the British Royal Society, a 1998 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2001 Liquids Prize of the American Chemical Society, election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009, and endowed lectureships at the Curie Institute (Paris), the University of Leeds (England), Case Western Reserve University, Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh. At UCLA he won the 1996 University Distinguished Teaching Award, and served as Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2000-2004). He is currently UCLA Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and a member of the California NanoSystems Insitute and Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA.
Abstract:
In this talk I describe our synthesis of perfectly monodisperse and highly robust spherical virus-like particles (VLPs) from purified RNA and protein. The protein is from the capsid of the plant virus cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), and the RNA is a genetically-engineered insect virus (Nodamura) genome, with genes of interest replacing its structural genes. Significantly, these non-infectious, hybrid, VLPs are capable of delivering their RNA content for efficient translation in mammalian cells; further, the first, RNA-dependent-RNA-polymerase (RdRp), gene product of their RNA gives rise to a high level of RNA replication, and hence to strong expression of the genes of interest that have been inserted into the RdRp-coding portion of Nodamura. Results are presented for the in vivo expression of ferritin protein for enhancing MRI contrast and of cancer antigens for eliciting immune response.
Keynote Forum
William M Gelbart
UCLA, USA
Keynote: Reconstituted virus-like particles as delivery systems for self-amplifying RNA genes for cancer detection and therapy
Time : 9.00 - 9:30
Biography:
Professor Gelbart was trained as a physical chemical theorist, obtaining his BS at Harvard University (1967) and his PhD at the University of Chicago (1970). After two years of postdoctoral work, at the University of Paris and UC Berkeley, he joined the Berkeley faculty in 1972, continuing his researches on the quantum theory of photochemistry. Prof. Gelbart moved to UCLA in 1975, switched fields, and became a leader in the then-emerging field of “complex fluidsâ€, contributing significantly to the statistical mechanical theory of liquid crystals, polymer solutions, colloids, and selfâ€assembling systems. A dozen years ago he became deeply intrigued by viruses and, with his colleague Charles M. Knobler, established a laboratory to investigate simple viruses outside their hosts and isolated in test tubes. This work, along with that of several other groups in the States and Europe, helped launch the burgeoning field of “physical virologyâ€. Prof. Gelbart’s interdisciplinary research has been recognized by many awards, including the 1991 Lennardâ€Jones Medal of the British Royal Society, a 1998 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2001 Liquids Prize of the American Chemical Society, election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009, and endowed lectureships at the Curie Institute (Paris), the University of Leeds (England), Case Western Reserve University, Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh. At UCLA he won the 1996 University Distinguished Teaching Award, and served as Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2000-2004). He is currently UCLA Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and a member of the California NanoSystems Insitute and Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA.
Abstract:
In this talk I describe our synthesis of perfectly monodisperse and highly robust spherical virus-like particles (VLPs) from purified RNA and protein. The protein is from the capsid of the plant virus cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), and the RNA is a genetically-engineered insect virus (Nodamura) genome, with genes of interest replacing its structural genes. Significantly, these non-infectious, hybrid, VLPs are capable of delivering their RNA content for efficient translation in mammalian cells; further, the first, RNA-dependent-RNA-polymerase (RdRp), gene product of their RNA gives rise to a high level of RNA replication, and hence to strong expression of the genes of interest that have been inserted into the RdRp-coding portion of Nodamura. Results are presented for the in vivo expression of ferritin protein for enhancing MRI contrast and of cancer antigens for eliciting immune response.
- Diagnostic Microbiology | Antimicrobials and Antimicrobial Resistance
Location: Sequoia
Chair
Marco Manfredi
Pietro Barilla Childrens Hospital, Italy
Session Introduction
Alexander Suvorov
Institute of Experimental Medicine, Russia
Title: Recombinant chimeric protein PSPF as novel vaccine against Streptococcus pneumonia
Biography:
Dr. Alexander Suvorov is presently acting as Head of Molecular Microbiology division of Federal, State Budgetary Scientific Institution "Institute of Experimental Medicine” in Russia
Abstract:
Objectives: Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading cause of bacterial infections among adults and children. Recombinant polypeptides vaccines, based on the conservative and immunogenic sites of surface pneumococcal proteins could be an advantageous vaccine alternative.
Methods: A chimeric recombinant protein named PSPF was constructed from conservative and immunogenic fragments of S. pneumoniae surface proteins PspA, Spr1875, PsaA and the S. typhiurium flagellin terminal domains FliC1 and FliC2. PSPF protein was expressed in E.coli and used for immunization of the inbred or line mice (BALB/c and Albino Swiss) which were later infected with different S. pneumoniae serotypes. Specific humoral immune response was evaluated by ELISA. Protective efficacy was evaluated according to survival rates or lung and blood bacterial cell counts. Experiments with animals were performed with the necessary ethical requirements.
Results: PSPF showed a high immunogenic activity when applied by intranasal or subcutaneous routes. Specific IgM, IgG and IgA were detected in serum and broncho-alveolar fluid. PSPF-specific IgG recognized all S. pneumoniae serotypes studied. PSPF immunization increased resistance of adult BALB/c mice to lethal intraperitoneal infection with serotype 19F (25-40%) and intranasal infection with serotype 3 (25%). PSPF-immunized infant Swiss mice showed an improved clearance of serotypes 3, 6Ð’, 14 and 19F from the lungs and complete absence in blood. The addition of Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain as PSPF adjuvant significantly improved results of vaccination.
Shashi Sharma
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, USA
Title: Cleavage sensitive antibody for the detection of type A botulinum neurotoxin
Biography:
Shashi K Sharma currently serves as Team Leader of Special Pathogens and Select Agents (SPSA) at the Division of Microbiology in the Office of Regulatory Science. He oversees a group of researchers and support scientists engaged in a multi-parameter research program to develop and apply microbiological and molecular genetic strategies for detecting and identifying select agent and bacterial foodborne pathogens. His early work on the development of monoclonal antibodies and immunodiagnostics of HIV and Typhoid including a unique detection system based on liposomal technology for Syphilis antigen. Sharma received his PhD in Microbiology from University of Bhopal, India in 1992. In 1994, he joined the Department of Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he worked on the structure and function of Clostridium botulinum neurotoxins. Dr. Sharma came to the Food and Drug Administration in 2002 and has since carried out numerous experiments relating to the detection and identification of select agents and foodborne pathogens. He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology and has co-authored more than 50 publications and book chapters on detection and identification of select agents such as Botulinum, Ricin, Bacillius anthracis and Francisella tularensis. His current research focuses on the development and validation of an effective and sensitive detection system for Clostridium botulinum toxins in foods. He has served in advisory role to the US government agencies on select agents assay development and a founding executive board member of Institute of Advance Science, Dartmouth, MA.
Abstract:
Background & Aim: Contemporary technologies and assay methods are being explored continuously for rapid and sensitive detection of biologically active BoNTs in food and environmental samples to facilitate enhanced public health response. Previously, FRET based substrates were used to detect the presence of active BoNTs in samples. However their efficacy to screen food samples and identify serotypes associated with unknown samples is largely limited. In this work, we have evaluated the application of cleavage sensitive monoclonal antibodies (CSM) to detect enzymatically active BoNT Type-A using Biolayer Interferometry (BLI). CSM are developed to recognize only the neo-epitopes that are generated after the cleavage of target substrates by BoNTs.
Methods: BLI platform (Pall Fortebio Octet) was used to evaluate the ability of type-A CSM (CSM-A) to specifically detect the catalytic action of BoNT/A, by measuring its binding to the BoNT/A cleaved fragment of SNAP-25. BLI is a powerful, versatile, rapid and label-free biosensor tool for characterizing the real-time kinetics of binding interactions between ligands and analytes. Full-length His-SNAP-25 (ligand) was coated on the surface of the sensor tips. Toxin and CSM-A (analyte) were placed in 96-well polypropylene plates. SNAP-25 coated sensor tips were then exposed to the wells containing toxin at different concentration (0, 1, 3, 6 and 12.5 ng/ml) and for varying incubation times (30-90 minutes). The loaded tips were then incubated with CSM-A, and the binding activity of the CSM-A was studied.
Results: The CSM-A based BLI assay demonstrated concentration and activity dependent binding characteristics and can reliably report BoNT/A enzymatic activity. Notably it required less than 5 hours for sensitive and specific detection of BoNT/A. The preliminary studies showed that CSM-A based BLI assay was able to detect active toxins dilutions in the range of 1 ng/ml (in buffer).
Zsolt Boldogkoi
University of Szeged, Hungary
Title: Full-length isoform sequencing reveals a hidden complexity in the transcriptome of a herpesvirus
Biography:
Zsolt Boldogkoi has received his PhD in Molecular Biology from Szent Istvan University at Godollo. He has worked at the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, USA as a PhD student then had Post-doctoral training at University of Bonn. His primary field of interest is the molecular biology of herpesviruses, the regulation of gene expression analysis and utilization of herpesviruses as tools. He has published more than 70 papers in reputed journals. He is currently the Head of Department of Medical Biology at Faculty of Medicine of University of Szeged.
Abstract:
A single molecule long-read sequencing platform was used to characterize the polyadenylated fraction of the lytic transcriptome of pseudorabies virus (PRV). Both amplified and non-amplified isoform sequencing protocols were applied to complete the transcriptional annotation of the viral genes. Our analyses revealed previously unrecognized protein-coding and non-coding genes, novel mono and polycistronic transcription units, as well as extensive transcriptional overlaps between neighboring and distal genes. Our investigations identified several non-coding transcripts overlapping all three replication origins of the PRV. This study revealed that the entire PRV genome is utilized for transcription, including both DNA strands in all coding and intergenic regions. The genome-wide presence of transcript overlaps suggests a crosstalk between genes through the interaction of transcription apparatuses with a potential function in the control of gene expression. The Ori-overlapping transcripts are supposed to represent an interaction between the transcription and replication machineries, which might play a role in the control of DNA synthesis. This study also demonstrated the utility of Pacific Biosciences RS II platform for the analysis of quantitative data, since we could evaluate the relative amounts of transcripts produced throughout the viral life cycle
Franklin Bright
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, USA
Title: Optimization of a nuclease-activated non-invasive optical imaging approach for S. aureus infections
Biography:
Franklin Bright is currently pursuing his PhD in the Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Iowa, USA. He has received his Master’s degree in Microbiology at Wagner College in Staten Island, NY, USA. Following his Master’s research, he has worked as a Microbiologist carrying out antibiotic research at NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA, USA) for 5 years. While working at NovoBiotic, he engineered a strain library of over 4000 bacterial isolates.
Abstract:
We previously described a novel molecular imaging technology capable of rapidly detecting S. aureus infections in mice. This was accomplished with an activatable near infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe consisting of a Cy5.5 fluorophore and a quencher attached to opposite ends of a synthetic oligonucleotide (RNA) sequence which is selectively cleaved by a secreted nuclease of S. aureus. Intravenous administration of this probe enabled the rapid detection of S. aureus infections in mouse thighs with non-invasive imaging. We are currently optimizing this approach for clinical applicability. This includes generating and testing probes with longer-wavelength fluorophores (i.e., that absorb and emit light of >750 nanometers). Near infrared wavelengths of >750 nanometers are known to penetrate tissues to a much greater extent than the ~700 nanometer light required to image the Cy5.5 fluorophore and could thus enable deeper imaging of tissues. However, the ability to robustly quench such “800 nm” fluorophores in vivo (a valuable endpoint for this optimization) has not been developed. Here, we will describe second generation quenched near-infrared fluorescent probes that include 800 nm fluorophores in place of Cy5.5. Quenching and nuclease-mediated activation were observed in vitro in buffer and in anticoagulated blood. Preliminary data indicate fluorescence increases at S. aureus infection sites and sites of nuclease injection in mice. Efforts to thoroughly characterize these probes in vivo, including in an S. aureus subcutaneous catheter biofilm infection model are ongoing.
Biography:
Dr. Francis Oronsaye is presently working as an associate professor at University of Benin, Nigeria from where he pursued PhD in Medical Microbiology. After attaining doctorate, he served in various positions including lecturer, senior lecturer and pricipal investigator for various projects involved in the same university. He has attended more than 20 international conferences and delivered talks in his field of expertise. He is a member of International Research and Development Institute and American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He has published more than 50 research articles in peer-reviewed journals. He was also successful in designing a lotion for treating all kinds of superficial infections of bacterial and fungal origin. It is currently undergoing toxicology testing and is also awaiting NAFDAC registration.
Abstract:
Objectives: To determine the trend in sero prevalence of HIV-associated Tuberculosis (TB) in Benin City, Nigeria from 1990-1999. Patients suffering from HIV infection are prone to attack by various organisms because their highly compromised immune system. Treatment of TB has been of serious worry to Clinical Bacteriologist. Therefore to be co-infected with the dreaded HIV/AIDS compounds the health problem of such patients. Quaranteing such patients is a faster way of treatment and prevention of spread of the disease to others. The documentation of such cases becomes of public health advantage both for epidemiological and statistical details.
Methods: A prospective record was kept of WHO presented of symptoms suggestive of TB at the health centers. Patients confirmed to be TB infected by presence of acid and alcohol fast bacilli (AAFB) by Ziehl Neelsen (ZN) staining method, of their sputa were screened for HIV antibodies.
Results: This study revealed a rising trend in HIV and TB co-infection from 0% in 1990-1992 to 2% in 1993/1994 and 1999 the prevalence has increased to 3.5 from 2.8% in 1998. More males than females were infected with a ration of 1.5:1. The highest prevalence was observed among individuals aged 20-49 years.
Conclusion: Our presentation highlighted the magnitude of the problem with HIV-associated TB infection in this city.
Marjan M. Hashemi
Brigham Young University, USA
Title: In vitro activity of ceragenins against colistin-resistant clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae
Biography:
Marjan M.Hashemi is a Ph.D. student at Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University. She has published 3 papers in reputed journals and attended 6 conferences.
Abstract:
The emergence of drug-resistance bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae is of global concern and underscores the urgent need for development of novel antibiotics. Ceragenins were designed to mimic the antibacterial activities of endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), and ceragenins have been shown to possess broad-spectrum activities against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria and fungi(1, 3). As small molecules, ceragenins can be produced at large scale relatively inexpensively, and because ceragenins are not peptide-based, they are not substrates for proteases(2). The objective of this work was a comparative study of representative ceragenins and AMPs, including LL-37, cecropin A, and magainin I, against six clinical isolates of colistin-resistant K. pneumoniae (MICs ranging from 16 to 200 µg/mL). MIC assays demonstrated high antibacterial activity of ceragenins against the colistin-resistant strains (MICs ranging from 1 to 8 µg/mL). Killing curves confirmed MBC results and showed that ceragenins, at concentrations of MIC × 2 and MIC × 4, were bactericidal for all tested colistin-resistant and susceptible strains. Through serial passaging, a highly colistin resistant strain (MIC >300 µg/mL) was generated; this strain remained susceptible to lead ceragenins (MICs 1 to 3 µg/mL). Additionally, the disruptive antibacterial effect of a lead ceragenin, CSA-131, on the cell membrane of bacteria was observed through scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The evolutionarily conserved antibacterial mechanism common to AMPs is mimicked by ceragenins, and these antimicrobials retain activity against highly drug resistant K. pneumoniae.
- Special Session
Location: San Francisco
Session Introduction
David Massey
HIV/AIDS Advocate Atlanta Metro, USA
Title: HIV Disclosure: Say what you need to say!
Biography:
David L. Massey is an internationally published motivational speaker who travels sharing his story of “Life Beyond the Diagnosis.” He also works in public health in Atlanta, GA and has been granted a national platform to speak through strategic partnerships with non-profit organizations raising awareness around HIV/AIDS. Through this work he has been part of cutting edge development in the introduction of PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylactics) as well as served as a subject matter expert in workshops surrounding condom distribution and the Fundamentals of HIV/AIDS Prevention training and implementation. As an advocate connected with various audiences he hopes to educate while addressing the stigma still attached to those persons living with HIV/AIDS.
Abstract:
This is a commentary to be used as a practical guide for persons living with HIV to disclose their status. It provides answers in a non-threatening and thoughtful way to ensure comprehension of the receiver. This can also be used as a form of information sharing to those who may not know the ramifications surrounding not disclosing their HIV status. This oral presentation gives suggested language to use when disclosing leading to the desired outcome. The outcome itself is to promote way of blocking transmission of HIV/AIDS to other persons through the art of conversation involving disclosure. Knowing what to say and how with sexual partners as well as those who make the policies surrounding criminalization are just as important. This is from one man’s account of sharing his status with his partner and how the interaction changed both of their lives forever.