CROI Abstract Categories

CROI 2026 Abstract Categories: Notes on Category Selection

Original research on HIV and related infections, SARS-CoV-2, and MPXV may be submitted for consideration. The Scientific Program Committee may, from time to time, add specific emerging infections to the research presented at CROI. These infections are those that impact the lives and health of people with or at risk of HIV, such as viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, and mpox, or those that have immediate global threats to health, such as COVID-19.   

Before selecting a category, please review the category description and the following guidelines to ensure that the appropriate review team reviews your abstract:     

• All studies of children or adolescents should be submitted to category (P) Childhood and Adolescent HIV, SARS-CoV-2, or Mpox Virus  

• All studies of pregnant or postpartum populations or aspects of conception or gestation should be submitted to category (O) Maternal and Fetal HIV and SARS-CoV-2 

• All resistance studies and trials should be submitted to category (H) Resistance of HIV or SARS-CoV-2 to Small Molecules and Antibodies in Adults   

• All studies of hepatitis, including hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E in monoinfection or HIV coinfection and liver complications (eg, NASH and NAFLD), should be submitted to category (I) Hepatitis Viruses and Liver Complications 

• Diagnostics: Studies of new technologies related to HIV drug resistance, complications, tuberculosis, other opportunistic infections, hepatitis, or malignancies should be submitted to those specific categories. Studies applying new diagnostics in populations should be submitted to category (R) Testing for HIV, COVID-19, and Mpox in Adults: New Tests, Population Studies, and Scale-Up    

• Population and Cost Modeling: Studies that include research on demography, population impact, modeling, and cost-effectiveness should be submitted to the relevant topical category. Reviewers of these abstracts will include individuals with modeling expertise   
• Behavioral or relevant social sciences studies should be submitted to the respective categories, including  (U)  Implementation and Scale-Up of Prevention and Treatment for HIV, and Impact of COVID-19 and Mpox on HIV-Related Programs;  (G)  Antiviral Therapy: Pre-Clinical Data, Randomized Trials, Efficacy, and Effectiveness Studies in HIV or SARS-CoV-2 or Mpox Virus in Adults; and  (S)  Prevention of HIV, COVID-19, and Mpox in Adults   

A	Virology of HIV, SARS-CoV-2, or MPXV	Studies related to basic HIV virology, including studies of viral replication in vitro, host restriction factors, viral life cycle, entry, tropism, viral phenotypes, and genotypes. This category includes studies of the virology of SARS-CoV-2 and MPXV.
B	Pathogenesis of HIV, SARS-CoV-2, or MPXV: Human Studies and Animal Models	Studies of factors influencing disease outcome in humans and animal models-including viral-host interactions, immune activation, host cell targets, cell compartments for infection, genotype (viral and host), and disease. This category includes studies addressing similar issues for SARS-CoV-2 and MPXV.
C	Host Immune Responses, Vaccines, and Immunotherapies: HIV, SARS-CoV-2, or MPXV	Studies of immune responses (B-cell, T-cell, and innate) to infection and vaccines, and immunomodulatory therapeutic interventions (eg, cytokine interventions, passive antibody treatment). This category includes studies addressing similar areas for SARS-CoV-2 and MPXV.
D	HIV Reservoirs, Latency, and Cure	Studies of all aspects of HIV reservoirs, latency, and approaches to cure, including human and animal studies related to these topics.
E	Neuropathogenesis and Neurologic Complications of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 , and Other Retroviral Infections in Adults	Studies of all aspects of HIV neuropathogenesis, including neuroimmunology, neurodegeneration, virology of central nervous system (CNS) infection, CNS complications of systemic infection (including neurocognitive dysfunction and associated factors or responses), cerebrovascular complications, and biomarkers (including neuroimaging). This category includes similar studies related to neuropathogenesis and neurologic complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

F	Clinical Pharmacology in Adults	Studies of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of small and large molecule drugs in animal models and adult humans, including drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, novel dosing regimens, drug interactions, simulation and modeling, and novel uses of objective drug adherence and exposure metrics.   Studies of maternal-fetal health should be submitted to category (O)  Studies of children or adolescents should be submitted to category (P).
G	Antiviral Therapy: Pre-Clinical Data, Randomized Trials, Efficacy, and Effectiveness Studies in Adults	Studies of antiviral agents and combinations, including virus-directed monoclonal antibodies and new antiviral agents (including pre-clinical data, interventional trials, and observational and cohort studies) where the focus is on antiviral therapy and antiviral treatment strategies for HIV, SARS-CoV-2, or MPXV. Studies of patient and provider attitudes about different antiviral treatment options and studies of antiviral adherence should be submitted here.    Studies that focus on resistance should be submitted to category (H).   Studies of maternal-fetal health should be submitted to category (O)  Studies of children or adolescents should be submitted to category (P).
H	Resistance of HIV or SARS-CoV-2 to Small Molecules and Antibodies in Adults	Studies of molecular mechanisms, pathogenesis, clinical implications, epidemiology, and diagnostics around resistance.    Studies of maternal-fetal health should be submitted to category (O)  Studies of children or adolescents should be submitted to category (P).
I	Hepatitis Viruses and Liver Complications in Adults	Studies of diagnostics, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and therapy for hepatitis viruses and liver complications of HIV or SARS-CoV-2 in adults, children, and adolescents.   Studies of maternal-fetal health should be submitted to category (O)  Studies of children or adolescents should be submitted to category (P).
J	HIV-Related Malignancies and Tumor Viruses	Studies of epidemiology, pathobiology, prognostic biomarkers, incidence, treatment, gynecologic malignancies, and prevention approaches for malignancies or premalignant lesions in patients with HIV infection.
K	Cardiovascular Complications of HIV Infection and Antiretroviral Therapy	Complications of HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy, including coronary and cardiac complications, lipids, and peripheral vascular atheromatous disease.    Cerebrovascular complications, including stroke, should be submitted to category (E).
L	Other Complications of HIV Infection and Antiretroviral Therapy in Adults	Studies of renal, bone, frailty, metabolic, and other complications (excluding neurologic or liver complications) in HIV.   Neurologic complications should be submitted to category (E).   Liver complications should be submitted to category (I).
M	Clinical Manifestations and Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2, Including Long COVID	Studies of clinical manifestations and co-morbidities associated with, and complications of, SARS-CoV-2 in adults. Includes acute COVID-19 disease and postacute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC, or long COVID).    Neurologic complications of COVID-19 should be submitted to category (E).   Studies of maternal-fetal health should be submitted to category (O)  Studies of children or adolescents should be submitted to category (P).
N	Tuberculosis and Other Opportunistic Infections, Including the Impact of HIV in Adults	Basic and clinical studies of bacterial, fungal, parasitic, mycobacterial, and non-hepatitis viral infections, including the impact of coinfections with SARS-CoV-2, tuberculosis, and other opportunistic infections. This category will also include integrated strategy studies that evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of biomedical, behavioral, and structural interventions to treat or prevent coinfections and opportunistic infections in people with HIV.
O	Maternal and Fetal HIV and SARS-CoV-2	Studies of maternal-fetal HIV, SARS-CoV-2, mpox, and their related infections: transmission, prevention, treatment, pregnancy, and postpartum maternal health. Includes mother-to-child transmission; approaches to diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of infections and comorbidities during pregnancy and breastfeeding; possible risks associated with treatments in pregnancy and breastfeeding; issues of postpartum maternal health; and early infant diagnosis.
P	Childhood and Adolescent HIV, SARS-CoV-2, or MPXV	Studies of the diagnosis, treatment, and management (including biomedical, behavioral, and structural interventions) of HIV and related coinfections and comorbidities in infants, children, and young adults, including HIV-exposed uninfected infants and children. This category includes SARS-CoV-2 and mpox in these populations.

Q	Epidemiology of HIV, COVID-19, and Mpox	Studies of the incidence and prevalence of HIV, COVID-19, and mpox. Includes risk factors for acquisition or transmission; biomedical, behavioral, and structural determinants; morbidity and mortality; surveillance; surveys, transmission, including phylogenetics; molecular epidemiology; and studies focused on key and priority populations.
R	Testing for HIV, COVID-19, and Mpox in Adults: New Tests, Population Studies, and Scale-up	Studies evaluating the performance characteristics, implementation, and cost-effectiveness of diagnostics and related tests for HIV, COVID-19, and mpox. Includes individual, community-, partner-, and self-testing; innovative approaches and technologies; scale-up of testing; and testing results.
S	Prevention of HIV, COVID-19, and Mpox in Adult	Preclinical and clinical studies (including first-in-human and pharmacokinetic studies) of prevention interventions for HIV, COVID-19, and mpox. Includes microbicides, pre- and postexposure prophylaxis, treatment as prevention, medical male circumcision, multipurpose technologies and other prevention methods. Implementation of prevention interventions for populations without HIV, including studies in which HIV incidence is the primary outcome.   Studies of maternal-fetal health should be submitted to category (O)  Studies of children or adolescents should be submitted to category (P).  Implementation studies of prevention strategies and packages should be submitted to category (U).
T	Contraception, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Reproductive Health in Adults	Studies of sexually transmitted infections, contraception and reproductive health in women and men; includes studies of contraception, human papillomavirus, and other aspects of sexual and reproductive health in populations with or at risk of HIV.
U	Implementation and Scale-up of Prevention and Treatment Interventions for HIV, and Impact of COVID-19 and Mpox of HIV-Related Program	Studies of HIV prevention and treatment cascades, implementation science studies, integrated strategy studies, status-neutral approaches, experiences with scale-up of HIV prevention and treatment, and population-level impact of prevention and treatment on health outcomes of persons with or at risk for HIV. the impact of COVID-19 or mpox on HIV-related services are included.