Balzer Discusses Trial Design at HIV Prevention Symposium

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Laura Balzer, assistant professor of biostatistics, delivered an invited talk on trial design during the HIV Vaccine Trial Network’s symposium on “HIV Prevention Efficacy Trial Designs of the Future” held in Seattle, Washington, on Nov. 5.

The symposium brought together leaders in the field of HIV prevention and treatment. Participants included representatives from governmental agencies (NIH, FDA), non-governmental agencies (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), industry, community-advocacy groups and academia.

In her talk, Balzer discussed the design and analysis of pragmatic trials, which aim to learn the real-world effects of interventions with proven individual-level efficacy. Among other factors, she advocated for not treating HIV in a “silo.” Previous results from the Sustainable East Africa Research in Community Health (SEARCH) trial, for which Balzer serves as study statistician, demonstrate that a multi-disease, community-based approach can reduce HIV incidence, mortality, tuberculosis and improve control of non-communicable diseases.

The HIV Vaccine Trials Network is the world’s largest publicly funded multi-disciplinary international collaboration facilitating the development of vaccines to prevent HIV/AIDS.