Foundation Makes Headlines at International Conference The Foundation ensured maternal and child health issues were front and center during the 16th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) February 8 through 11.

As the conference kicked off in Montreal, Canada, an op-ed by Foundation President and CEO Pamela Barnes and Executive Vice President of Medical and Scientific Affairs Dr. Nicholas Hellmann was featured in the prominent Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail.

CROI closed with Dr. Jeffrey Stringer's widely-attended plenary session on research into prevention of HIV transmission through breastfeeding. Dr. Stringer administers the Foundation's care and treatment program in Zambia.

College Students Around the Country Get Up for the Fight The Generation Free Campaign, the Foundation's youth initiative, engages young adults in the Foundation's fight to create a generation free of HIV. Dance marathons, where participants pledge to stay on their feet for 12, 24, or even 28 hours in an effort to represent the mental and physical challenges faced by children suffering from HIV/AIDS, are a key part of the Campaign. Several schools have already had banner events this year:

• The students at Columbia University brought their nine-year fundraising total to more than half a million dollars;
  
• In its eighth year, UCLA's February marathon had a record-breaking 3,000 participants and raised more than $250,000 for the Foundation;
  
• The students of Baldwin-Wallace raised more than $22,000 for the Foundation at their marathon; and
  
• In their fourth year, the students at UC Berkeley raised $24,000 to support our lifesaving work.
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The University of Delaware and Boston University will also be hosting marathons in the coming weeks. Sponsor a dancer or help fulfill the goals of past dance marathons.

NIH Panel Features Foundation Family When Cameron Siemers was diagnosed with HIV at age seven, his disease proved particularly difficult to treat: None of the limited number of HIV drugs approved for children worked for him. Cameron participated in a number of pediatric clinical trials in hopes of finding a treatment, but while some drugs showed promise, none were effective. Only recently has Cameron, now 26, found a regimen that allows him to manage his disease.

Cameron and his mother Linda spoke movingly about their experiences with HIV and the trials at a National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel on developing and improving pediatric clinical trial networks in February. Cameron and Linda urged continued commitment to developing better pediatric drugs and devices. Read more about Cameron.

Nurses Receive Critical Training in Swaziland As part of an initiative to diagnose, treat, and support more children infected with HIV, the Foundation sponsored a two-week course on psychosocial support and counseling in February. More than 20 nurses from pediatric clinics and primary health care units learned ways to offer testing to families and provide care for children through role playing. The training, also sponsored by the Swaziland National AIDS Program (SNAP) and funded by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), was the first of its kind in Swaziland. Read more about our work in Swaziland.

Symposium Held in Lesotho Following the success of its presentations at the 15th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), the Foundation held a symposium on the conference in Lesotho last month. More than 150 people attended the event, which was co-hosted by the SA Clinicians Society and featured presentations from Foundation staff, several international health organizations, and a keynote address from Director General of Health Dr. Mpolai Moteetee of Lesotho's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Read more about our work in Lesotho.