The International Herpes Management Forum (IHMF^®) was established in 1993 to improve the awareness and understanding of herpesviruses, and the counselling and management of people with these infections.

Drawing its direction from a Board of international opinion leaders, the IHMF^® is committed to encouraging debate and exchange of knowledge, and has developed clear practical guidelines on all aspects of the management of herpesvirus infections.

This website gives all visitors – from specialists and healthcare workers to patients seeking more information about their disease – the opportunity to view and download the educational guidelines produced by the IHMF^®; to give feedback on IHMF^®-related materials and meetings; and to establish contact between local HMFs worldwide.

What is the IHMF®?

To view the poster 'What is the IHMF^®?', you will need a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is free to download and is available on the Adobe Acrobat website.

Dr Lawrence Corey

Dr Lawrence Corey is Professor of the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. A well-known figure in the field of antiviral research, Dr Corey has a particular interest in HIV infection and how it influences other sexually transmitted diseases, particularly herpesvirus infections. He is currently involved in research on vaccines for HIV and herpes simplex virus and in studies of aciclovir and valaciclovir for prevention of asymptomatic shedding in genital herpes.

Professor Paul Griffiths

Professor Paul Griffiths studied biochemistry and medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College in London. After clinical posts, he went straight into virology, initially at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, followed by a year as an NIH Fogarty Fellow at Birmingham, Alabama in 1980 – 1981. He was appointed to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, (now Royal Free and University College Medical School) as a Senior Lecturer in 1982, and as Professor of Virology in 1989. He has MD and DSc degrees from the University of London, is Editor of Reviews in Medical Virology, and is on the editorial board of five other journals. His research concerns quantitative aspects of the natural history and pathogenesis of herpesvirus infections, especially cytomegalovirus and HHV-6/HHV-7 in immunocompromised patients, including the potential interaction between herpesviruses and HIV. He is interested in the design of, and results from controlled clinical trials of compounds active against herpesviruses, which may reveal the full spectrum of diseases caused, or triggered, by these common infectious agents.

Dr Robert Johnson

Dr Robert Johnson has been a consultant anaesthetist at the United Bristol Hospitals since 1975 and is Director of the Pain Management Clinic and Herpes Zoster Clinic at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol, UK. He is past Editor of the Journal of the Pain Society and is on the editorial board of the European Journal of Pain. He is author of papers and chapters on anaesthetic and pain topics including zoster-associated pain. He is chairman of the European Chapter of the Varicella Zoster Virus Research Foundation. Dr Johnson is an associate member of the IHMF^® Board.

Dr Jean Elie Malkin

Dr Jean Elie Malkin is a specialist in infectious and tropical diseases, and is Chief of the Communicable Diseases Department at the Institut Alfred Fournier, the National Reference Centre for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and the WHO Collaborative Centre for STDs, Paris, France. He is involved in clinical and epidemiological research in the field of STDs, especially herpes and HIV infection. In 1997, he was responsible for setting up a centre for the global management of genital herpes at the Institut Alfred Fournier.

Dr Raj Patel

Dr Raj Patel is a consultant Genitourinary Physician at the Southampton University Hospitals and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medicine, University of Southampton, UK. His major research interests are the management and epidemiology of HSV infections. He is the Secretary General of the International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections and Convenor of the Diplomas in Genitourinary Medicine and HIV Medicine (London).

Dr David Patrick

Dr David Patrick is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine and Associate Director of the Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)/AIDS Control of the University of British Columbia, Canada. His areas of special interest are epidemiology, STDs, human immunodeficiency virus and communicable diseases control. Dr Patrick’s role is an Associate Member of the IHMF^® Board, responsible primarily for primary care initiatives. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the HERPES journal.

Dr Lawrence Stanberry

Dr Lawrence Stanberry is Chairman of Pediatrics and Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He has served on numerous advisory and review panels and is currently the chairman of the Vaccine Study Section at the National Institutes of Health. His areas of research include the development of prophylactic and therapeutic herpes vaccines, basic studies of the pathogenesis and immunobiology of herpes, the development of topical microbicides to control sexually transmitted infections, and the special problem of genital HSV infection in teenagers. Dr Stanberry was one of the lead researchers on the recently completed SmithKline Beecham herpes simplex virus subunit glycoprotein vaccine trials. Dr Stanberry is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Herpes Journal.

Dr Antonio Volpi

Dr Antonio Volpi is a specialist in infectious diseases at the University of Rome, Italy. He has conducted considerable research into the epidemiology, diagnosis and therapy of viral infections in man, but has a particular interest in the natural history of cytomegalovirus infections in the immunocompromised. Dr Volpi is Webmaster of the IHMF^® website, Chairman of the Italian Herpes Management Forum and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the HERPES journal.

Dr Richard Whitley

Dr Richard Whitley, a renowned figure in the field of antiviral chemotherapy, holds several academic posts including Professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology and Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA and Loeb Eminent Scholar Chair in Pediatrics. Dr Whitley's broad interests are reflected by his membership of numerous editorial boards and societies. He is a lead researcher in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) trials of antivirals in neonatal herpes, congenital cytomegalovirus infections and varicella zoster virus infections in immunocompromised hosts, and is currently devoting much of his time to the research of perinatal herpes simplex virus infections.