Immunology of HIV Cure and Beyond: Navigating Immunology Presentations at CROI 2026 – Dr John Frater

In episode 74 of Going anti-Viral, Dr John Frater joins host Dr Michael Saag to discuss a presentation he gave at the 2026 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) entitled Immunology of HIV Cure and Beyond: Navigating Immunology Presentations at CROI 2026.  Dr Frater is a Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Oxford where he leads the HIV Reservoir and Cure Group. The aim of his research is to explore strategies for targeting the reservoir of latent HIV infection in treated individuals, with a specific interest in primary HIV infection. He is a lead investigator on several major HIV clinical studies, many of which include antiretroviral therapy treatment interruptions. His laboratory focus is on immune responses that may lead to viral control and the impact of viral variation. Dr Frater and Dr Saag discuss the basics of HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy as well as the barriers to HIV cure. They also address complexities of HIV latency and the challenges in identifying and eliminating latent reservoirs. Dr Frater addresses the promising strategies involving immune responses in targeting reservoirs and the role of early treatment in HIV cure.  0:00 – Introduction 2:15 – Basics of HIV infection and the barrier to HIV cure: latently infected cells3:56 – Why do some cells die after 1 day6:04 – Strategies to identify and eliminate latently infected cells8:52 – The role of immune responses in targeting reservoirs11:42 – Timing of reservoir establishment and early treatment 16:49 – Measuring the latent reservoir: challenges and methods18:16 – The London Patient and cure evidence22:14 – Future directions and hope for HIV cureResources: CROI 2026: https://www.croiconference.org/ View Dr Frater’s presentation at CROI 2026: https://www.croiwebcasts.org/p/2026croi/croi/CR-55003 __________________________________________________Produced by IAS-USA, Going anti–Viral is a podcast for clinicians involved in research and care in HIV, its complications, and other viral infections. This podcast is intended as a technical source of information for specialists in this field, but anyone listening will enjoy learning more about the state of modern medicine around viral infections.Going anti-Viral’s host is Dr Michael Saag, a physician, prominent HIV researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and volunteer IAS–USA board member. In most episodes, Dr Saag interviews an expert in infectious diseases or emerging pandemics about their area of specialty and current developments in the field. Other episodes are drawn from the IAS–USA vast catalogue of panel discussions, Dialogues, and other audio from various meetings and conferences. Email [email protected] to send feedback, show suggestions, or questions to be answered on a later episode.Follow Going anti-Viral on: Apple Podcasts YouTubeXFacebookInstagram...