On the eve of AIDS 2012, the XIX International AIDS Conference  in Washington, DC, UCSF is launching its first-ever blog, UCSF AIDS 2012, to cover the news as it unfolds and to offer daily expert analysis and insight along the way.

In addition to several professional staff writers, the blog will feature more than two dozen full-time faculty from UCSF and San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) who will be listening to and analyzing the latest research in their own fields of expertise.

UCSF’s group of contributors includes many who are the top experts in their fields — and several who have been on the frontlines of the epidemic since its beginning more than 30 years ago . They are among the hundreds of clinicians and researchers who have helped make UCSF a global leader in AIDS research and have enabled SFGH and the City of San Francisco to continue setting the standard of care for people with HIV worldwide.

This blog will explore the latest developments in clinical care and research, the history as well as the future of the epidemic, offer perspective on the local and global problems associated with HIV, explore the role of activism in AIDS and examine the quest for a cure. The blog will also report what it will take to end the epidemic.

AIDS 2012 comes at a unique time in the history of the disease. Humanity is at a crossroad — a turning point where we can now ponder the beginning to the end of the global scourge of HIV, which has claimed the lives of tens of millions of people worldwide. It will not be easy, but together humanity can turn the tide on the epidemic — a hope reflected in the theme of the AIDS 2012 conference, which is co-chaired by UCSF Professor Diane Havlir. It is also a theme explored in the official declaration of AIDS 2012 .