Positively Aging Project, the annual Coachella Valley conference providing practical information and inspiration for those living long-term with HIV, will bring together community leaders to improve the lives of older adults living with HIV for a hybrid in-person and virtual conference on September 23, 2023.

The conference will feature top experts in HIV research on a panel discussing HIV and aging issues in our community with a focus on “Mind, Body & Soul” and the integration and importance of both in thriving with HIV.

Historically, the conference is held on or around National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day on September 18th —a day to call attention to the growing number of people living long and full lives with HIV and to aging-related challenges of HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care.

The virtual conference is free to attendees and open to the public. Presented by Mr. Bruce Purdy and Mr. Barrett Shepherd, this years’ event is a result of a unique collaboration among local service providers and organizations focused on improving the shared experience of older adults living with HIV.

People with HIV are living longer lives, thanks to advancements in scientific research and medical treatments: Today, 50% people living with HIV in the US are age 50 and above – that number that is expected to rise to 75% by 2030. Individuals aging with HIV have experienced tremendous loss, stigma, and discrimination throughout their lifetime and within the healthcare system. In comparison to their HIV- negative peers, people aging with HIV may experience an early onset of aging complications such as neurocognitive decline, impaired physical function, frailty, and psychosocial challenges like isolation, depression, and PTSD from living through the early HIV pandemic.

Keynote Speaker: Peter Staley

Peter Staley has been a long-term AIDS and gay rights activist, first as a member of ACT UP New York, then as the founding director of TAG, the Treatment Action Group. He was a 2016 Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics and is a leading subject in the Oscar-nominated documentary How to Survive a Plague. More recently, Staley co-founded the PrEP4All Collaboration and the COVID-19 Working Group—New York, and is the lead named plaintiff in Staley v Gilead, a major federal antitrust case against big pharma set for trial next year. Staley recently published his memoirs, titled Never Silent: ACT UP and My Life in Activism.

What: The Positively Aging Project 8th annual HIV conference is a collaboration between the HIV + Aging Research Project and other nonprofit community partners. It is a hybrid - in-person and virtual conference, consisting of a mix of facilitated discussions, panels, and presentations led by key researchers, advocates, and long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS

Date: September 23, 2023

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m

Where: The Mizell Center

480 S. Sunrise Way

Palm Springs, CA 92262

And online via Zoom

Registration is free and now open via Eventbrite:

EIGHTH ANNUAL POSITIVELY AGING PROJECT SYMPOSIUM Tickets, Sat, Sep 23, 2023 at 9:00 AM | Eventbrite

Or through the HIV+Aging Research Project sit

www.HARP-PS.org/positivelyagingproject