CBR Musings Blog – July 2012

Review: What’s Hot in HIV Research

Research, research everywhere but what to read? Where to start? I’ve been musing about how the lovely World Wide Web makes research so much more accessible, especially with the advent of social media where news and research “find us.” I’m always interested in seeing what colleagues in the HIV/AIDS field are posting on their listservs, blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages and following the threads of how information circulates and what gets re-posted.

It is often through these networks of information that I learn about the hottest new ideas in HIV-related research and of helpful online resources. Yet, if you’re not soaking up this type of information as a part of your job I recognize that it might seem daunting to choose a few pieces to read in detail amongst the rushing info flow.

As part of the PAN CBR program blog, I am hoping to highlight a few key research stories or resources monthly as a means of highlighting trends or not-to-be missed stories or resources. Here’s this month’s “What’s hot!” list!

  1. The CIHR Centre for REACH’s new website! REACH is PAN’s partner for our CBR Program and we just love their new website. It’s full of great tools and information, including on how to access research funds, and is also linked to the education arm of reach, the Universities Without Walls program. Read this inspiring profile on UWW 1.0 grad Brent Oliver to learn more about how this program is supporting the next generation of HIV/AIDS researchers.
  2. What is peer review? Great question. Maggie Koerth-Baker at Boing Boing online magazine published an article that answers this question in April 2011 and it’s been floating around Twitter this week. It’s written for people who are new to research and publishing and outlines how peer reviews work and digs into the question “If a paper is peer reviewed does that mean it’s correct?”  (Teaser: the answer is “nope”!). A great addition to the budding CBR-er’s toolkit!
  3. The final HOT item over the past few weeks is the FDA approval of home rapid-test kits for HIV in the USA. This news spread like wildfire through many news sources, both mainstream (see the CBC story) and in HIV specific publications (see positivelite.com’s take on the topic). And just this week the research angle on this development floated to the surface with the HIV Medical Association’s release of a statement supporting the approval yet saying that they urge for “more research.” I would anticipate that over the next few years we will learn how researchers broach this emerging HIV testing method.

If you want to share a post that you think should be shared in “What’s Hot” email me at [email protected] or through twitter @PAN_CBR.