Laura Waters, M.D., and Myles Helfand recap several noteworthy moments and clinically important studies from this year's Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025), which took place during a deeply uncertain moment in the HIV field, both domestically and globally. Their research conversation includes highlights in antiretroviral therapy strategies; comorbidities; emerging cure science; and prevention.¶

¶

 

Access the full transcript, which includes contextual links to study abstracts and other reference info: https://www.thebodypro.com/hiv/future-hiv-care-croi-2025¶

¶

The pod team: Our senior production manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our senior producer is Lizzie Warren; our associate production manager is Maui Voskova; our audio editor is Kim Buikema; and our executive producer is Myles Helfand.

Myles Helfand is joined by new co-host and expert HIV clinician-researcher Laura Waters, M.D., to dig into an issue they had once hoped they would never need to spend a podcast episode discussing: The rapidly unfolding impact of a new Trump administration on both the global fight against HIV and efforts to combat the virus -- and provide care and services -- within the United States.¶ ¶ Full episode transcript and key resource links:  https://www.thebodypro.com/hiv/future-hiv-care-initial-trump-policy-impact¶   TheBodyPro's article on alternate sources of federal HIV data/info:¶  https://www.thebodypro.com/hiv/hiv-data-purge-2025-access-resources¶ ¶ The team: Our podcast hosts are Myles Helfand and Laura Waters, M.D.; our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our senior production manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our senior producer is Lizzie Warren; our associate production manager is Maui Voskova; and our audio editor is Kim Buikema.

You can't truly look to the future without taking time to make sense of the past. That's why our January episode explores some of the most important studies and events of 2024 from an HIV clinical standpoint, and discusses what those highlights mean for HIV care moving forward.¶ ¶ The guest: David Alain Wohl, M.D., a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina and the co-principal investigator of UNC's Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Trials Unit.¶ ¶ The reference materials:¶ ¶ Episode transcript:  https://www.thebodypro.com/hiv/future-hiv-care-wohl-top-10-jan-2025¶ ¶ Wohl's 'Top 10 HIV Clinical Developments of 2024' series:¶  https://www.thebodypro.com/gallery/top-10-hiv-clinical-developments-2024¶ ¶ The team: Our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our project manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our audio producer is Alex Portaluppi; and our audio editor is Kim Buikema.

GLP-1 Agonists and HIV: Do Weight-Loss Drugs Make Sense for Your Patients?     Three GLP-1 agonist drugs (which originally had been confined to diabetes treatment) are currently FDA approved specifically for weight loss. The rapid uptake of these medications in the U.S. has naturally led to questions within the HIV clinical community about their safety and efficacy in people living with HIV, whose journeys with weight gain and weight loss overlap with the general population but also may differ significantly in a few key ways.     Joining us on the podcast this month to provide some answers is one of the most prominent clinician researchers exploring this topic today: Grace McComsey, M.D., a professor of pediatrics and medicine at Case Western Reserve University, as well as the vice president of research and the associate chief scientific officer at the University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland, Ohio.     Read the transcript: https://www.thebodypro.com/article/future-hiv-care-glp-1-agonists-semaglutide     Credits: Our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our project manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our audio producers/engineers are Alex Portaluppi and Lucy Mueller; and our series editors are Maria Elena Perez and Juan Michael Porter II. This episode's audio was edited by Kim Buikema.

For all too many people living with HIV in the U.S., the prospect of facing incarceration because of their status is not an abstraction: It is a real and present danger. And in many states, it has nothing to do with science. This month, Juan Michael Porter II speaks with Joseph Cherabie, M.D., M.Sc., about why it's so important for clinicians to educate themselves about HIV criminalization laws in their state -- and then work to support and empower their patients while pushing to get these laws removed.     Read the transcript, which includes valuable links to related resources: https://www.thebodypro.com/article/future-hiv-care-criminalization     Credits: Our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our project manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our audio producers/engineers are Alex Portaluppi and Lucy Mueller; and our series editors are Maria Elena Perez and Juan Michael Porter II. This episode's audio was edited by Kim Buikema.

Summer weather is transitioning into sweater weather in most of the U.S., and that means we -- and our patients -- are about to spend a lot more time indoors, inevitably getting exposed to numerous microbes. Accordingly, this month we're talking about vaccinations for people living with HIV: why they're critical, what to consider, how to discuss the topic with your patients, and how to help ensure people living with HIV equitably receive the care they deserve.     Our guests for this episode, which is hosted by Juan Michael Porter II, are Stella Safo, M.D., M.P.H., of Just Equity for Health and Perry Halkitis, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the Rutgers School of Public Health.     Read the transcript: https://www.thebodypro.com/article/future-hiv-care-podcast-vaccinations     Credits: Our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our project manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our audio producers/engineers are Alex Portaluppi and Lucy Mueller; and our series editors are Maria Elena Perez and Juan Michael Porter II. This episode's audio was edited by Kim Buikema.

This month, we’re clearing the air around integrase inhibitors. They are by far the world’s most commonly prescribed HIV drug class -- but that ubiquity has come with long-standing concerns around their potential to cause a range of adverse events, from weight gain to birth defects and more. Our executive editor Myles Helfand speaks with Laura Waters, M.D., FRCP, the head of the British HIV Association, about what the available science tells us.     Read the transcript: https://www.thebodypro.com/article/future-hiv-care-podcast-integrase-inhibitors-laura-waters     

Credits: Our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our project manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our audio producers/engineers are Alex Portaluppi and Lucy Mueller; and our series editors are Maria Elena Perez and Juan Michael Porter II. This episode's audio was edited by Kim Buikema.

This month, Juan Michael Porter II speaks with Tristan Barber, M.D., FRCP, about the challenges we face in determining the precise causes of particular health complications in people living with HIV. As importantly, they discuss how a provider can best make sense of these challenges and work through them to continue to provide exceptional, supportive patient care.     Read the transcript: https://www.thebodypro.com/article/future-hiv-care-podcast-treatment-tristan-barber     Credits: Our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our project manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our audio producers/engineers are Alex Portaluppi and Lucy Mueller; and our series editors are Maria Elena Perez and Juan Michael Porter II.

The concept of "patient-centered care" can feel both nebulous and obvious: As a clinician treating a patient, are you not by definition providing patient-centered care? There is a key difference, however, between care that focuses on the patient and care that centers each patient as a unique individual in need of a specifically tailored approach.     This month, podcast co-hosts Myles Helfand and Juan Michael Porter II dig into this issue, and discuss how conversations about achieving long-term successful health outcomes for people living with HIV must start with the most basic of tenets: Believe your patients, trust them, and show that you’re willing to stand up for their rights to existence and equity.     Read the transcript, which includes links to the many sources we reference this month: https://www.thebodypro.com/article/future-hiv-care-podcast-trust-your-patients    

Credits: Our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our project manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our audio producers/engineers are Alex Portaluppi and Lucy Mueller; and our series editors are Maria Elena Perez and Juan Michael Porter II. Audio for this episode was edited by Kim Buikema.

Your Patients Are Probably Having Anal Sex. Let's Talk About It.       It’s Pride Month, so we thought: Why don’t we talk about anal health? (Or, as we will frequently refer to it on this podcast, butt stuff?)     We know it’s a taboo, and many of us are uncomfortable discussing it with our patients. But even though it is awkward, when we recognize that HIV transmissions often occur through anal sex -- and that regardless of sex or gender, many people have anal sex at some point, whether they are admitting it or not -- we can appreciate that we really do need to talk about this.     Our guest for this discussion is Jonathan Baker, PA-C, the Operations Director of Clinical Research at Laser Surgery Care and a leading clinical voice on issues related to anal sex and health care.     Read the transcript, which includes links to additional resources you can utilize yourself and share with your patients: https://www.thebodypro.com/article/future-hiv-care-podcast-baker-anal-sex     This month’s episode is hosted by Juan Michael Porter II. Our executive producer is Myles Helfand; our project manager is Alina Mogollon-Volk; our audio producers/engineers are Alex Portaluppi and Lucy Mueller; and our series editors are Maria Elena Perez and Juan Michael Porter II. Audio for this episode was edited by Kimberly Buikema.