To guide evidence-based policies and programs to end the HIV epidemic statewide, the California HIV/AIDS Research Program funds two collaborative HIV Policy Research Centers. Our Centers at the University of California San Francisco and University of California Los Angeles involve multi-disciplinary teams of academic researchers and community partners working to conduct objective and rigorous HIV policy-relevant research that informs local and state-level policy in California. This session highlights the rapid-response research processes used by the Centers to identify research priorities, engage stakeholders, and disseminate findings in a timely manner. We will provide case examples of high-impact policy research that successfully bridged the gap between academic research and real-world policymaking, including recent projects on HIV decriminalization, PrEP access, and HIV and immigration. We will also showcase our efforts to understand and address the syndemics of HIV, HCV, and STIs in California through our collaboration with the Ending the Epidemics movement.

The AIDS 2020 Local Planning Group in partnership with the California HIV Research Program will sponsor a symposium highlighting the successes of and challenges faced by research conducted across disciplines and communities, and lessons applicable to research in HIV, COVID-19, and health disparities. We will highlight mixed-method, community-based and participatory research aimed at preventing HIV infection or increasing engagement and retention in HIV care, while recognizing the social determinants that drive the HIV epidemic among vulnerable populations. The symposium will begin with two pre-recorded overview presentations, available on-demand during AIDS 2020, showcasing multidisciplinary research projects conducted in California. Each presentation will survey the challenges to and successes of collaborative HIV research in the Bay Area. During the live session the pre-recorded speakers will recap their remarks, followed by two respondent panelists drawing lessons for future collaborative research in HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and health disparities. The session will close with audience Q&A.

While progress in HIV care has been remarkable over the past 40 years, and while two-thirds of people living with HIV in well-resourced areas are able to achieve a suppressed viral load, not everyone is benefitting equally. Unsheltered and unstably housed individuals face substantial barriers to viral suppression and optimal health. Reasons for these stark disparities in wealthy cities are numerous, interrelated and –despite local resources--consistently hard to overcome. The COVID19 pandemic has placed a renewed spotlight on the social and structural challenges faced by unsheltered individuals living with and at risk for HIV. This symposium will explore the role of housing in both the HIV and COVID19 pandemics. In particular, it will highlight recent findings from research and surveillance with the potential for use in health care delivery and public health practice.

This satellite session will launch the JIAS supplement "Integrating services for HIV and related comorbidities: modelling to inform policy and practice." While people living with HIV (PLWH) are living longer due to antiretroviral treatment (ART), they are developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as they age. These NCD co-morbidities are not being diagnosed or treated in many low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). In countries with generalized HIV epidemics, a question asked is: What is the most cost effective way to implement integrated HIV/NCD care? In countries where the epidemic is concentrated within key populations, a question is: Can we integrate HIV and mental health or substance use services? To answer these questions data can be provided through mathematical modeling and surveys. This supplement highlights several examples of the use of mathematical modeling to provide data to make decisions on how to provide more comprehensive care to PLWH.

HIV testing is an essential tool for epidemic control, the entry point to patient management and further prevention of transmission. Ensuring equitable access to diagnosis is paramount. HIV Self-Testing (HIVST) offers such opportunities through a variety of approaches tailored to meet the needs of priority populations. With dwindling investments in HIV programming including HIV testing, models of HIVST distribution that are independent from external investments offer options for longer-term sustainability. The STAR project in Southern Africa and the ATLAS project in West-Africa have gathered evidence through research and implementation for such models that could be replicated in other countries that are scaling up HIVST. Short Interviews with Representatives from MOHs, Researchers, Implementers, Donors and Beneficiaries and short videos of HIVST case studies from Southern Africa and West-Africa.

Research training and capacity building in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) have been critical to understanding and effectively preventing and treating HIV infection and AIDS. This session will highlight successes and lessons learned from training and capacity programs over the past three decades and stimulate discussion on future activities to local ownership and sustainability. The panel will feature early-career current of recent LMIC trainees as well as LMIC senior mentors and organizational heads who can talk about needs and opportunities that can be harnessed for sustained growth of the research environment. The symposium is organized by the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which has been supporting HIV research training for more than 30 years, and is seeking input for continued support of the research training and capacity building efforts.

This Symposium will examine the global targets for HIV such as Getting to Zero by 2030 also exploring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how Indigenous Peoples play an important role in achieving them. Although all of the 17 SDGs are relevant for Indigenous Peoples, they are mentioned specifically in Goals 2 and 4. Ensuring that SDG implementation takes place in conformity with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is essential. It is our collective responsibility to support Indigenous Peoples and, ultimately, the well-being of our planet.

Self-care is how individuals protect their own health, prevent disease, and treat illness, both with and without the support of a healthcare provider. Interventions such as condoms, HIV self-testing, PrEP, self-sampling for STIs, and digital solutions have led to a greater configuration of self-led HIV prevention, treatment and care possibilities than ever before. COVID-19 has accelerated and emphasized the need for self-care interventions to meet the needs of people who live with or are at risk of HIV to alleviate an already overburdened healthcare system. The accessibility of self-care is dependent on the support of governments and policymakers to ensure there is deliberate integration of self-care into health policy, program, and practice. Through this panel discussion, the speakers will explain how self-care has been an integral component of the healthcare system and integrated in HIV response, reshaping how HIV prevention, treatment and care services are provided.