Dear. CFAR Community:
We invite you to join us for our 2026 CFAR Future Leaders in HIV Research Symposium on Friday, April 17th, 10am-4pm at Gladstone Mahley Auditorium in Mission Bay. We'd love to have you join us in person for a great day, which will feature a Keynote from Dr. Diane Havlir, presentations from our new Excellence Awardees, as well as a Director's update from CFAR Director, Dr. Monica Gandhi (Updates on Federal Funding Environment).
A full agenda is below.
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Please RSVP at the link below.
We hope to see you there!
CFAR Leadership
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Friday, April 17, 2026
10:00AM – 3:00PM PT
Coffee and Light Pastries at 9:30AM
Gladstone Institutes, Mahley Auditorium
1650 Owens Street, SF, CA 95158
1650 Owens Street, SF, CA 95158
Scientific Networking Reception with hors d’oeuvres and beverages from 3-4PM
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Keynote
The long horizon: HIV research from treatment to transformation to transformation
Diane Havlir, MD
Professor and Director AIDS Research Institute, UCSF
Chief, HIV, Infectious Diseases & Global Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
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Dr. Havlir is a UCSF Professor, member of the National Academy of Medicine and chief of the HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine Division at ZSFG, home to world-renowned HIV research and Ward 86 clinical program. She is the director of the AIDS Research Institute, the umbrella organization for all HIV programs at UCSF. She was a resident at UCSF when the AIDS epidemic emerged in the 1980s, and she has both cared for HIV patients and conducted research in HIV and its complications since that time. She is a long-standing NIH-funded investigator, has over 400 publications, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and other high -impact journals. She led early studies showing the effectiveness of combination HIV therapy, the importance of early treatment, and more recently, global strategies for scale up of HIV therapy in the SEARCH consortium. Dr. Havlir was a co-founder and continues as a co-chair of San Francisco’s Getting to Zero, a citywide consortium with a goal to eliminate new HIV infections and deaths. Diane has been very active globally via leadership roles in the World Health Organization (WHO). She co-founded the global HIV drug resistance surveillance network, has served on the WHO Global HIV treatment and prevention global guidelines since its inception, and has chaired the United Nations AIDS Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, providing high-level guidance on global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
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2026 CFAR Excellence Award for Basic/Translational Research
Modulation of Galectin-9 to Target Viral Persistence
Li Du, PhD
Staff Scientist I
Vitalant Research Institute / UCSF
2026 CFAR Excellence Award for Clinical Research
Methamphetamine Use Disorder and HIV: From Long-Acting Injectables to Emerging Psychedelic Therapies
Nicky Mehtani, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
2026 CFAR Excellence Award for Socio-Behavioral Research
Understanding HIV Prevention Needs Among African American Women with Substance Use Disorder: Qualitative Perspectives from Women and Their Treatment Providers
Caravella McCuistian, PhD, MA
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
University of California, San Francisco
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Director's Update
Updates on Federal Funding Environment
Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH
Director, UCSF-Bay Area Center for AIDS Research
Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief,
Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine
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Pivoting Next Steps to Current Realities: Panel from Past CFAR Awardees
Diana Alba, MD (Low Barrier Award, 2023)
Ifeanyi Ezeonwumelu, PhD (Mentored Scientist Award, 2024)
Sarah Gutin, PhD, MPH (Mentored Scientist Award, 2021)
Miranda Hill, PhD, MPH (Mentored Scientist Award, 2021)
Hyman Scott, MD, MPH (Mentored Scientist Award, 2021)
Scientific Networking Reception with hors d’oeuvres and beverages
UCSF welcomes all participants to our events. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event because of a disability, please contact Cesar Cadabes at cesar.cadabes@ucsf.edu as soon as possible.
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Congratulations to the 2026 CFAR Excellence Awardees!
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2026 CFAR Excellence Award for Basic/Translational Research
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Li Du, PhD
Staff Scientist I
Vitalant Research Institute/UCSF
Li's research is driven by a passion for uncovering the molecular mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and developing therapeutic strategies. Li performed her doctoral work at China Agricultural University in Beijing, China, studying the role of type I interferons in suppressing the replication of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), to develop novel strategies to control PRRSV and improve agricultural practices in China.
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Following her PhD training, Li joined the Pillai Lab at Vitalant Research Institute (VRI) as a Post-doctoral Fellow to continue her studies of type I interferons in viral pathogenesis. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Li devoted her energies to determining how the interferon-inducible lectin galectin-9 (Gal-9) enhances SARS-CoV-2 replication in airway epithelial cells by facilitating viral attachment and entry, while also identifying small molecules capable of inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 assembly.
Currently, in her role as a Staff Scientist at VRI, Li is exploring how interferon-regulated host factors, including non-coding RNAs, Gal-9, and HELZ2, can be modulated to target the latent HIV reservoir. By integrating molecular biology, viral immunology, and bioinformatics, Li is aiming to develop novel HIV functional cure strategies.
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2026 CFAR Excellence Award for Clinical Research
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Nicky Mehtani, MD MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
Nicky Mehtani, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG). Her research focuses on novel treatments for substance use disorders among people with and at risk for HIV, including psychedelic-assisted therapies.
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Clinically, Dr. Mehtani practices Addiction and HIV Medicine at the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Maria X. Martinez Health Resource Center, a low-barrier clinic serving people experiencing homelessness and unstable housing. In this role, she has led efforts to implement long-acting injectable antiretroviral medications for HIV treatment and prevention.
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2026 CFAR Excellence Award for Socio-Behavioral Research
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Caravella McCuistian, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
University of California, San Francisco
Caravella McCuistian is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. McCuistian’s research interests include addressing health disparities among underserved populations including substance-using populations, racial/ethnic minorities, women, and individuals living with HIV.
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She has conducted research that utilizes community-engaged methodology, including community-based participatory research, to develop behavioral interventions to address health inequities such as tobacco use and HIV among vulnerable populations. Dr. McCuistian is also interested in addressing health disparities in novel ways such as leveraging technology to provide interventions to underserved communities.
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