Quick Working Group

The Quick Working Group (QWG) was established following an April 2004 inaugural consultation among the donors supporting microbicide effectiveness trials. At this meeting, the donors concurred on the need for a mechanism to facilitate exchange of knowledge, experience, data, and ideas among the investigators conducting phase 2/2B and phase 3 trials. To address this issue, the QWG convened its first meeting 15-16 November 2004 in Washington, DC. When the donors met again in April 2005, they determined that the QWG was fulfilling its anticipated role and should continue.

The QWG has met six additional times:

• 10-11 May 2005 at the Population Council Headquarters in New York, USA
• 16 November 2005 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
• 27 April 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa
• 23-24 January 2007 in London, UK
• 25-26 May 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa
• 17 December 2007 in Washington, DC, USA

The eighth meeting of the QWG will be held in the summer of 2008.

The QWG occasionally organizes additional meetings to dedicate substantial time to issues of pressing importance for ongoing and future trials. In 2007, the QWG held two such meetings:

• Meeting on Alternative Trial Designs
• Adherence and Its Measurement in Microbicide Clinical Trials: 18-19 December 2008, Washington, DC (jointly sponsored by the Alliance for Microbicide Development and Family Health International)

For questions or comments about the QWG please email Stephanie Tillman at stillman@microbicide.org, Alliance Writer/Research Associate.