Infectious Disease Frontier

Editorial Note: The 2026 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, covering diverse themes in global HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. This exclusive interview features…

The 2026 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Long-term prognosis of liver transplantation in people living with HIV (PLWH) emerged as a key topic in the hepatology track of the conference. Dr. Adriana Cervo from the University Hospital of Modena, Italy, presented a specialized study at the conference, systematically analyzing long-term survival, rejection episodes, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence and metabolic complications following liver transplantation in PLWH. Her work provides evidence-based references for transplant diagnosis and treatment in this special patient population.

The 2026 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bringing together global specialists in infectious diseases, the conference covered a wide array of cutting-edge topics including viral prevention and control, antiretroviral therapy, and long-term health management for people living with HIV, and shared numerous innovative clinical research findings. At the conference, Dr. Florence Bascombe from University College London presented a special study on lean steatotic liver disease (SLD) among people living with HIV. Her discoveries have reshaped established clinical understanding of disease characteristics in patients with lean fatty liver disease, offering new insights into liver disease screening and management for this special population.

The 2026 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) was successfully held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The prevention and control of maternal, infant and pediatric HIV remained a key topic of discussion at this conference. We conducted an exclusive interview with Dr. Alfredo Tagarro from the Instituto de Investigación 12 de Octubre, Spain. Breaking free from the conventional analytical framework of mother-to-child transmission, his research proposes an innovative research perspective of “Moving Beyond Transmission”, focusing on immune characteristics, risk triggers and intervention strategies among HIV-exposed infants and young children. The in-depth discussion covers core directions including pediatric immune disparities, gaps in clinical screening, and pre-emptive family interventions, delivering cutting-edge research insights to optimize full-cycle health management for HIV-exposed infants and young children.

The 2026 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. HIV care for adolescents and the rollout of the Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) framework emerged as key discussion priorities at the conference. Young populations across sub-Saharan Africa bear a dual burden of HIV infection and pervasive social stigma. Integrating U=U interventions into routine clinical care serves as a critical pathway to improve their disease literacy, psychological wellbeing, and reduce high-risk sexual behaviours.

The 2026 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the management of sarcopenia among older adults living with HIV emerged as a hot topic of discussion. Dr. Andre dos Santos from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Brazil, conducted a special study on the correlations between muscle quantity, muscle quality, muscle strength and physical performance in older HIV-positive patients using multimodal imaging techniques. His research findings have drawn widespread attention from clinical peers. Older adults living with HIV suffer prominent skeletal muscle damage due to chronic inflammation and long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART). Traditional assessment models that rely solely on muscle quantity have clear limitations. Infectious Disease Frontier conducted an exclusive interview with Dr. Santos to conduct in-depth discussions on core clinical issues including optimized sarcopenia assessment frameworks and stratified intervention strategies, offering new insights for long-term health management of older adults living with HIV.

The 2026 International AIDS Conference was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where scholars from across the globe engaged in in-depth exchanges on the latest advances in HIV diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control. Dr. Milena Duque Vizcaino from the Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute in Cuba presented a domestic follow-up study covering 2019 to 2025 at the conference, centering on the critical public health issue linking late HIV diagnosis to mortality risk. Though Cuba has built a comprehensive HIV prevention and control network underpinned by its unique universal free healthcare system, the challenge of delayed diagnosis has not been fully eliminated. Infectious Disease Frontier conducted an exclusive interview with Dr. Vizcaino to discuss core topics including disparities in mortality risk among late-diagnosed patients, key barriers to delayed diagnosis, and optimized screening and intervention pathways. The interview analyzes pain points and practical experience of HIV prevention under a Latin American medical model, offering reference frameworks for low- and middle-income regions worldwide to refine strategies for early HIV screening and treatment.

The 2026 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) was successfully held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The conference covered multi-dimensional topics including HIV prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and long-term disease management, bringing together scholars from the global infectious disease field for academic exchanges. Professor James McMahon from the Alfred Hospital and Monash University, Australia presented data from a 104-week Phase II clinical trial at the conference, focusing on evaluating the efficacy and safety of a half-yearly long-acting triple regimen combining lenacapavir, teropavimab and zinlirvimab. Long-acting administration represents a key developmental direction for current HIV therapy, drastically alleviating the daily pill-taking burden on patients and offering new insights for optimized long-term disease management. Infectious Disease Frontier conducted an exclusive interview with Professor McMahon to discuss the sustained viral suppression effects, tolerability profiles and target patient populations of this innovative long-acting triple regimen based on core primary clinical trial data, for reference by frontline clinical practitioners.

At AIDS 2026, Sarah Morris, Chief Product Officer of Audere, delivered a presentation titled From Algorithms to Empathy: Artificial Intelligence in Self-Care Support for HIV Services, sharing cutting-edge practical experience and exploring the value and boundaries of AI technology deployed in long-term HIV health management. As AI gradually penetrates multiple self-care scenarios including medication adherence tracking, psychological counseling and risk monitoring for people living with HIV, balancing technical efficiency with humanistic care, data security, and equitable universal access have emerged as core issues demanding clarification across the industry.

The 2026 Asia-Pacific AIDS and Co-infections Conference (APACC 2026) was successfully held in Tokyo, Japan. Focusing on cutting-edge practices and technological innovations in the prevention and control of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, the conference gathered global experts in the field to explore pathways for optimizing public health services. Our journal specially invited Professor Jason Ong from the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre in Australia for an in-depth interview.