Dear Colleagues:

We are pleased to announce that the 9th Annual Symposium on Antiviral Drug Resistance: Targets and Mechanisms will be held November 16-19, 2008, at the Wyndham Virginia Crossings Hotel and Conference Center in Richmond, Virginia.

Effective antiviral therapy is the only hope for survival or alleviation of disease for millions of Americans and tens of millions of individuals worldwide suffering from chronic viral infection, including those caused by HIV, HBV, HCV, and others. In addition, the threat of global outbreaks continues from influenza, SARS, and other respiratory viruses. Despite considerable progress in the development of effective inhibitors directed at specific aspects of viral life cycles, therapeutic efficacy has been limited by the evolution of resistant virus. This problem not only results in the failure of therapy, but may limit the effectiveness of subsequent therapies. Moreover, attempts to counter drug resistance lead to complex, expensive, and toxic regimens. Antiviral drug resistance is therefore of paramount importance in dealing with growing epidemics of virus infection.

The Symposium on Antiviral Drug Resistance brings together researchers in a variety of virus systems to exchange new information on viral targets for therapy, on antiviral drugs, and on resistance to these drugs. We believe that understanding the similarities and differences of the diverse viral systems will lead to new insights into the problem of resistance in each individual virus.

The focus of the Symposium is on specific molecular targets, their normal structure and function, their interactions with antiviral drugs, and the evolutionary basis and specific mechanisms of viral resistance. Organized by molecular target, the program will include invited speakers as well as oral and poster presentations selected from submitted abstracts. The covered topics include:

This Symposium is sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh and co-sponsored by the HIV Drug Resistance Program of the National Cancer Institute. Through the generous support of corporate sponsors, financial assistance is available to a limited number of postdoctoral fellows, students, and others whose abstracts are selected for presentation but who are not in the position to support their own participation in the Symposium. If you are interested in applying for such financial assistance, click here for more information.

We hope you will join us in November for what promises to be another terrific Symposium.

John W. Mellors, M.D. Division of Infectious Diseases University of Pittsburgh

John M. Coffin, Ph.D. Tufts University (on contract to HIV Drug Resistance Program, NCI)

Stephen H. Hughes, Ph.D. HIV Drug Resistance Program National Cancer Institute