CROI 2026 Will Gather Experts to Discuss the Current State of HIV

The Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) 2026, to be held in Denver, Colorado, from February 22 to 25,¹ is set to incorporate expert insights from across the globe to discuss the treatment, prevention, and future of HIV, along with other viral infections. Breaking research will also be presented via posters included in the conference schedule.

The conference will begin on Sunday with an opening address from Nicolas Chomont, PhD, from the Université de Montréal in Canada, and acting CROI 2026 Chair. The opening session will feature the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the N’Galy-Mann Lecture and the Bernard Fields Lecture, given by Linda-Gail Bekker, MBChB, DTMH, DCH, FCP, from the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa, and Sharon R. Lewin from the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia, respectively, before the conference picks up in earnest on Monday.

The running themes of treating and preventing HIV will be highlighted early in the plenary session held on Monday morning. Ilesh Jani from the Mozambique National Institute of Health in Maputo, Mozambique, will be discussing how to meet the moment in HIV treatment and prevention in his presentation.

The day will also feature a presentation entitled “Sleepless in Denver: Impact of Funding Changes on HIV Care.” The talk will highlight how the funding changes regarding HIV care² are affecting the country as well as across the world where the funding cuts to global aid are most prevalent.

The role of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists in HIV will also be touched on in the plenary session on Tuesday, with Todd T. Brown, MD, PhD, of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, leading a talk on whether GLP-1 receptor agonists are a cure for everything. Oral abstract presentations will also touch on how to address HIV in children and adolescents, including breakthroughs in prevention, treatment, and cures for younger patients.

Precision in public health will be touched on during a themed discussion on Tuesday. The session will conclude with discussion from all presenters about how to continue work needed to fully prevent HIV across the world.

Looking into the future, Kevin O. Saunders, PhD, from the Duke Human Vaccine Institute in Durham, North Carolina, will begin Wednesday with a presentation on the successes that have been seen thus far in creating a vaccine for HIV-1. With funding cuts to several institutions that were developing vaccines, the work of completing this difficult vaccine may be challenging. However, the promise of the accelerating progress is something to look toward for an eventual cure for HIV.

The conference will also feature hundreds of posters to be presented throughout all 3 days, detailing new results in injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis, and other methods of receiving these drugs, as well as new research in vaccines, immunotherapies, virology, resistance to antiretroviral therapy, and complications of HIV infection, among other topics.

This year’s conference looks to be filled with educational and informational sessions that will expand the knowledge of all in attendance. With the past year of struggles in HIV funding, it is more important than ever to continue to focus on curing, preventing, and treating patients with HIV both across America and the world.

References

1. CROI 2026 preliminary program. CROI. Accessed February 18, 2026. https://www.croiconference.org/preliminary-agenda/
2. Bonavitacola J. HIV in 2025 defined by challenges throughout the year, despite some advances. AJMC^®. December 16, 2025. Accessed February 18, 2026. https://www.ajmc.com/view/hiv-in-2025-defined-by-challenges-throughout-the-year-despite-some-advances