The search for a safe and effective HIV vaccine has progressed further and faster in the last few years than at any time since the epidemic began. This progress poses new questions, new opportunities and new challenges as to how the HIV vaccine research endeavor should move forward.

We will carefully review all ideas, and are particularly interested in topics that:

• help keep the field broad, open, and cutting edge, which includes building on lessons from early HIV infection and pathogenesis, other HIV prevention research, new technologies, or vaccines against other diseases;
• help refine criteria for vaccine design and optimization, by defining protective mechanisms in a variety of models in hopes of informing decision-making and improving the chances of success in efficacy trials;
• lead to better incorporation and emphasis on development pathways, enabling better selection of candidates, more effective longer-term planning and preparation, and smoother transition between development phases.