Interviews

Asociaţia Română Anti-SIDA (ARAS; Romanian Association Against AIDS) was founded on April 10, 1992, just 3 years after the fall of communism, making it the first such organization in the country following a time when HIV was not officially acknowledged nor prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections discussed.

Mary Pat Gallagher, MD, of NYU Langone Health, outlines why young individuals should be vaccinated against COVID-19 and Finnish data on increased rates of type 1 diabetes (T1D) seen during the pandemic.

Catlin Dennis, MPH, explains the importance of securing internet and technology access among vulnerable youth with diabetes.

Rajesh Rajpal, MD, chief medical officer, global head of clinical medical affairs, Johnson & Johnson Vision, speaks on the impact of screen usage for eyes and trends in eye symptom burden reported amid the pandemic.

Bobeck Modjtahedi, MD, elaborates on the importance of devising effective and convenient mechanisms for diabetic retinopathy screening.

Dawn Averitt opened the session, “Refocus on HIV: How Innovation in HIV Will Address Individual Patient Needs,” on day 1 of IAS 2021, this year's virtual annual meeting of the International AIDS Society, which took place July 18-21.

We can safely delay excising in situ and early-stage melanomas while managing our patients’ care, noted Todd Schlesinger, MD, FAAD, director, Dermatology and Laser Center of Charleston and Clinical Research Center of the Carolinas.

Camillo Ricordi, MD, FNAI, outlines the current status of islet transplantation for patients with type 1 diabetes in the United States.

Getting vaccinated is important to protect yourself, your family, and your community, says William "Andy" Nish, MD, an allergist and immunologist at Northeast Georgia Physicians Group.

Collaborating with colleagues outside of dermatology helps to maximize the chances of skin cancer not coming back, especially in rare cases of noncontiguous tumors, noted Rajiv Nijhawan, MD, director of the UTSW High Risk Skin Cancer Transplant Clinic, in Dallas, Texas.

Hilary Babcock, MD, MPH, infectious disease specialist at Washington University and BJC Healthcare in St. Louis, Missouri, discusses the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination against the delta variant and the low likelihood of breakthrough infection.

SisterLove Inc is a 32-year-old sexual reproductive health rights and justice organization with a core focus on HIV and sexually transmitted infections at the intersection of other challenges to women's sexual reproductive health and well-being.

The pandemic has exacerbated not only cardiovascular care, but also the mental health of patients, noted Mariana Garcia, MD, cardiology fellow in the Academic Clinical Investigator Pathway at Emory University and member of T32, Multidisciplinary Research Training to Reduce Inequalities in Cardiovascular Health (METRIC).

Rajesh Rajpal, MD, chief medical officer, global head of clinical medical affairs, Johnson & Johnson Vision, discusses the process of cataract development and its prevalence in both older and younger populations.

William "Andy" Nish, MD, an allergist and immunologist at Northeast Georgia Physicians Group, discusses the factors that influence whether patients with asthma should be prescribed a biologic therapy.

Aleksandar Kostic, PhD, an assistant professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School, explains how a microbially targeted vaccine may prevent type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart & Vascular Center and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses whether sodium glucose co-transporter 1 (SGLT1) inhibitors can yield stroke benefits in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Providers need to put themselves in their patients' shoes and think about how they would like to receive services, emphasized Helen Bygrave, MD, chronic diseases advisor for the Médecins Sans Frontières’ (Doctors Without Borders) Access Campaign.

Gary Lyman, MD, MPH, an oncologist and hematologist, compares the uptake of filgrastim biosimlars with pegfilgrastim biosimilars.

Patients should continue to be monitored while on treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors if they are being treated for comorbid type 2 diabetes and heart failure, emphasized Mikhail N. Kosiborod, MD, cardiologist, vice president of Research at Saint Luke's Health System.

Catlin Dennis, MPH, describes the challenges socially and medically vulnerable youth with diabetes and their families faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ezio Bonifacio, PhD, explains factors associated with childhood type 1 diabetes incidence and why more research is needed among minority populations.

Bobeck Modjtahedi, MD, highlights some of the challenges of using telehealth to treat individuals with diabetic retinopathy.

Adults living with HIV sometimes get lost, and we need to optimize their outcomes, noted Allison Agwu, MD, ScM, FAAP, FIDSA, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Gary Lyman, MD, MPH, an oncologist and hematologist, gives his thoughts on whether health care institutions need to be doing more to encourage use of biosimilars.

The characteristics of the tumor and the presence of surgical fatigue can help determine patients’ candidacy for skin cancer surgery, explained Todd Schlesinger, MD, FAAD, director, Dermatology and Laser Center of Charleston and Clinical Research Center of the Carolinas.

Ann Goebel-Fabbri, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Boston, Massachusettes, discusses how limited research on patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and eating disorders hinders progress on developing effective interventions.

Michelle Litchman, PHD, FNP-BC, FAANP, FADCES, an assistant professor at the College of Nursing at the University of Utah, describes the results of a study that looked at diabetes technology use and online peer support systems among Spanish-speaking patients. Findings showed that when these 2 interventions are used in conjunction, a positive feedback loop forms.