HIV-AIDS global research conference taking place in London

Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos, an HIV researcher at Schulich School of Dentistry and Medicine speaks with CTV News at the Canadian Association for HIV Research Conference at RBC Place on April 25, 2024. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

The largest gathering of HIV researchers in Canada is taking place in London this week.

More than 550 researchers from the U.K., the U.S., and Canada are attending the Canadian Association for HIV Research Conference at RBC Place from April 25-28.

Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos, associate professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, is serving as the CAHR Basic Sciences track co-chair.

He said it’s an opportunity to get together with colleagues from around the world and share findings.

“Sometimes just by chatting with individuals that we don’t get to see face to face, we just come up with new ideas, new projects, new collaborations. ‘Hey, I’m working on this, you’re working on this. Let’s get together to advance things more rapidly and to ultimately help people.’ We can help people quicker,” he said.

Dr. Dekaekos said that despite advances in treatment, HIV-AIDS patients continue to face social challenges.

“But of course what remains with this virus and the syndrome that is often associated with this virus is the stigma in individuals that are positive. These individuals cannot still be cured, unfortunately, so they remain stigmatized in many instances. So society views them in a different way, of course, so we are trying to change all that,” he explained.