Abstract
The Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) is held annually to provide a forum for scientists to hear the most recent advances in the field of HIV and AIDS research. Although the conference has a primary mission to showcase advances in the prevention and management of HIV-1 infection and opportunistic infections (in particular, tuberculosis and hepatitis C virus [HCV]), there continues to be a strong basic research component. Research on cellular factors that influence the interplay between the virus and the host cell, and especially, cellular factors that antagonize viral replication, had the greatest presence at the conference. In the area of retroviral pathogenesis, research on viral reservoirs and mechanisms of viral persistence in the face of antiretroviral therapy generated considerable interest. Research on mechanisms of viral persistence is beginning to reveal strategies, some of which were the focus of presentations at CROI, to eliminate long-lived viral reservoirs.