At the XVth International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation (LIR), will present his laboratory's latest findings on how aberrant immune activation underlies HIV pathogenesis. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Fauci is scheduled to deliver his special lecture, entitled "Pathogenic Mechanisms of HIV Disease: The Role of Viral Replication and Immune Activation," on July 15 at 12:30 p.m. Bangkok time (1:30 a.m. Eastern Time). He will present new data that underscore the paradoxical nature of HIV infection: the very immune cells that are activated to destroy the virus provide a permissive environment for virus propagation and persistence.

A detailed news backgrounder on his talk can be found at http://www2.niaid.nih.gov/Newsroom/Releases/aidsbangkok.htm.

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on transplantation and immune-related illnesses, including autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies. Press releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.