by AIDSMeds
Article from California Newswire
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.— S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee today officially cut the ribbon to open the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH)’s new Bridge HIV research facility as part of the City’s new $9.5 million HIV/AIDS Research Center, located at 25 Van Ness Avenue.
“The research that has come out of the San Francisco AIDS Office has changed the way we look at, treat and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS all over the world,” said Mayor Lee. “The new state-of-the-art Bridge HIV facility reflects the commitment and integrity of the work that goes on here, and we have produced a new innovative world class center for world class researchers.”
“As one of the earliest and hardest hit cities, San Francisco has always been at the forefront of responding to the crisis of HIV/AIDS – from our community-based model of care to the cutting edge research at UCSF,” said Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. “With the addition of the federally-supported Bridge HIV Research Facility, our city will continue to lead the way as we strive for better treatments, a vaccine and finally a cure to the scourge of HIV/AIDS.”
“As Health Director, one of my primary concerns is bridging the gap in health disparities,” said DPH Director of Health Barbara Garcia. “This new facility will allow us to increase our recruitment, enrollment and retention of large and diverse populations of study participants. Also, we will increase our capacity to train students and other researchers and expand our ability to collaborate with other groups and seek input from members of the community.”
The Bridge HIV completion marks the end of phase one of the SOAR project (San Francisco Office of AIDS Renovation). The DPH project is funded by a grant through the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health and is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The new 17,000 square feet HIV/AIDS research center will expand and improve the existing research activities and accommodate future scientific needs.
The historic 25 Van Ness Avenue building was built in 1911 and was formerly a Masonic Temple, designed by Walter Bliss. The historic architecture, statuary and wall murals were preserved as an integral part of the new AIDS Research Center. The Department of Public Works (DPW) provided architectural services and project management. Construction work started on December 2011 and with the first major phase completed, this project is on time and within budget. The overall project is now 75 percent complete, with additional work on upper floors 5 and 6 remaining, and will be fully completed in 2013.
“I’m proud that this important project was designed by DPW’s architects and engineers working closely with the Department of Public Health’s Office of AIDS,” said DPW Director Mohammed Nuru. “While the project presented some challenges – such as being fully occupied during construction – I’m happy to say that we stayed within our planned schedule and budget.”
San Francisco’s early HIV/AIDS epidemiology and research played a major role in the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS. The AIDS Office was created in 1982 as the City began responding to the newly-evolving AIDS epidemic, concentrated, at that time, in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Along with tracking new AIDS cases among residents, the AIDS Office and also began to study the natural history of AIDS among 6,740 gay and bisexual men who had participated in an early study of hepatitis B. The specimens collected through these studies lead to the first HIV Antibody test licensed in the US and data from this study also set the standard for defining risk factors for HIV, rates of progression and other factors responsible for long-term non-progression. San Francisco DPH is recognized as a global leader in AIDS research and prevention.
Thirty years after the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS, the San Francisco DPH’s AIDS Office has matured into three independent and collaborative grant-funded research units managing a $46 million research portfolio.
•Bridge HIV (formerly HIV Research Section) under the direction of Susan Buchbinder, MD, is a leading site in the National Institute of Health-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Prevention Trials Network, clinical trial groups of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PreP), and other investigator-initiated research. Researchers are experts in HIV vaccine and prevention science, methods for measurement of adherence, combination HIV prevention strategies and innovative research training methods.
•HIV Epidemiology Section, led by Willie McFarland, MD and Susan Scheer, evaluates the incidence and prevalence of persons with HIV/AIDS. The investigators are global leaders in seroepidemiology and clinical outcomes, risk behavior assessment, community strategies for decreasing risk practices, sampling hard-to-reach populations and training international delegations on surveillance, sampling and interview techniques.
•HIV Prevention Section, led by Acting Director Tracey Packer, is the leading site for the National Institute Drug Abuse AIDS-funded Clinical Trials Network. For the past 30 years, researchers have been working to reduce HIV risk among methamphetamine users, novel HIV testing and partner notification strategies and the community-level impact of antiretroviral therapy to reduce HIV transmission.
HCV Drug Resistance Slide Set Now Available
• ResisSS 2012 v1.2 •
Given the rapid pace of HCV Drug Development, the original HCV Drug Resistance slide deck has been revised into four subsets:
Along with incorporating recent data from EASL 2012, the #3 Treatment Strategies set has been subdivided into regimens with or without interferon.
The Drug Resistance Slide Set, a product of the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research’s HCV Drug Development Advisory Group (DrAG) explains drug resistance in HCV, its consequences, as well as mitigating its impact.
The educational slide deck’s intended audience ranges the spectrum from health care providers evaluating, diagnosing and treating HCV, health care educators, HCV patients who want to learn about the disease and treatment options, and HCV advocates who may use the slides in their community education outreach efforts.
By AIDS.gov
In advance of the annual U.S. Conference on AIDS (USCA), approximately 150 people gathered in Las Vegas over the weekend for the Summit to End the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in America. The two-day event was organized by the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), the host of USCA, and attended by executive directors of community-based organizations from across the country along with senior state and local health department staff, and several leaders from community health centers.
The Summit opened with presentations by Dr. Julio Montaner and Dr. Ron Valdiserri. They set the stage for the discussions that followed with important ideas about the implications of game-changing advances in our understanding of the benefits of biomedical prevention and some principles for achieving an AIDS-free generation.
Dr. Montaner, Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and Director of the British Columbia Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, made the case that treatment as prevention is the key to an AIDS-free generation. Sharing the science behind the concept with examples from the experience of British Columbia, which has seen significant reductions in new HIV infections as they have scaled up HIV treatment efforts, he noted that the primary benefit of earlier HIV treatment initiation is the reduction of morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV. The well documented secondary benefit—the significant reduction HIV transmission as demonstrated by the HPTN 052 study and others—is not only huge, he argued, but also “free”. Achieving these benefits is not simple, Dr. Montaner acknowledged. The difficult part, he noted, is plugging the leaks in the treatment cascade so that a greater number of people living with HIV are linked to and retained in care, initiate antiretroviral treatment, and achieve a suppressed viral load. He shared the BC version of the cascade and observed candidly that we don’t yet know exactly how plug all of those leaks fully and well. But, he urged the participants to agree that the cascade serves as the best way to measure the success of HIV programs and should be used as the “standard report card for all of our programs.” He recognized important roles for community-based organizations in addressing the leaks in the cascade, noting that there is only so much that health care providers can do. Those roles include addressing HIV-related stigma, discrimination and, in some cases, criminalization that complicate efforts to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV. He also cited the important role of CBO support of patient navigation activities.
Dr. Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Director, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, discussed several principles for achieving an AIDS-free generation. He illustrated each principle with examples from recent HIV research and in so doing highlighted possible approaches for community based organizations and other partners to examine as they work to assess and, possibly, re-tool their roles in helping to end HIV/AIDS in America. Among the principles he shared was “Engage communities in finding solutions to HIV/AIDS.” To illustrate the principle, he discussed highlights from two studies demonstrating the efficacy of community-based, non-clinical approaches to improving HIV care access and treatment adherence. Echoing, in part, Dr. Montaner’s call, another principle articulated by Dr. Valdiserri was “Engineer systems to incorporate emerging research findings.” On this, he quoted NMAC’s Executive Director, Mr. Paul Kawata who has said, “It’s time to adapt…HIV prevention is changing…CBOs must change their service models to adapt.” Dr. Valdiserri noted that it is not only CBOs that must adapt, but all of the systems involved in the response to HIV – federal, state and local governments, clinical care settings, and others – all need to make changes to adapt to significant recent scientific advances in HIV prevention and treatment.
The Summit also featured the release of the “Declaration to END HIV/AIDS in America.” NMAC facilitated development of the Declaration by convening a blue ribbon panel, which included representatives from more than 100 community‐based, public, and private organizations as well as governmental leaders and people living with HIV/AIDS. The Declaration discusses how to translate groundbreaking policy and science developments into an end to HIV/AIDS. Dr. Benny Primm, a founder and Chair Emeritus of NMAC, invited the participants to sign the declaration, rededicating themselves to the mission of ending HIV/AIDS in America and to implement that commitment through all they do when they return to work at their organizations following USCA.
Over the remainder of the two-day Summit, the participants heard from a number of other thought leaders on key topics: HIV testing and diagnosis; linkage and access to care; retention in care; and treatment. The HIV leaders from across the country participating in the Summit held several rounds of intensive, in-depth small group conversations to unpack what the thought leaders were sharing and discus their own experiences and concerns as they reflected on how they and their organizations will move forward in revitalized ways to better serve their communities and help bring us closer to ending HIV/AIDS in America
2013 Pilot Program
Call for Applications
The Center for HIV, Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services (CHIPTS) is accepting pilot grant applications and statements of qualifications for domestic social, behavioral and policy research studies relevant to HIV, from faculty investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students at CHIPTS affiliated institutions (e.g., UCLA and Friends Research Institute).
ELIGIBILITY
Eligible applicants are limited to research scientists who had or have a working relationship with a community-based organization that can assist in formative research, access to subjects, or data collection. Community-based organizations are only eligible to apply if they have a working relationship with a research scientist from UCLA or one of the affiliated organizations. This eligibility criterion is necessary because of IRB requirements for the pilot studies. Highly competitive applicants will be those who demonstrate previous involvement with transgender populations, transgender service providers, as well as knowledge and familiarity with the sociocultural co-factors that impact HIV risk behaviors and health disparities among urban transgender individuals.
The goal of this request for pilot applications is to prepare CHIPTS researchers and its collaborative partners to develop innovative research in two areas. One, to conduct formative work with community partners and Los Angeles County, Department of Public Health, Division of HIV and STD Programs, to inform a prevention policy agenda toward the development of a Transgender Wellness Center. Two, to develop culturally competent primary and mental health intervention protocols and train professionals on these protocols. Three, to evaluate existing local interventions to assess their ability for adaptation to other transgender subgroups. Four, to develop and pilot promising interventions targeted at high-risk transgender individuals that can lead to larger, publically sustained projects.
In 2013, the CHIPTS pilot program will support a set of related pilot studies consistent with or related to the Center priorities of eliminating HIV in Los Angeles County and promoting innovative approaches to reduce the transmission of HIV. We are looking for pilot studies which:
2012 CHIPTS Pilot Call: [Download not found]
2011 CHIPTS Pilot Call: [Download not found]
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have discovered why some HIV positive individuals progress more rapidly than others to full-blown AIDS. The research was published in the Journal of Virology. 
Slow progressors carry the gene called HLA-B*57 (B57) an immune gene variant found in less than five percent of the population, but in 40-85 percent of slow progressors. Among those with the B57 gene, the speed of disease progression also varies. The key to the variation is a killer T-cell immune response occurring early in the HIV infection. It targets a section or epitope of the HIV protein known as IW9.
The researchers compared only the killer T-cell responses among those with the B57 gene, using blood taken shortly after HIV infection from 14 HLA-B57 carriers with known infection dates and known long-term outcomes. It was found that those whose killer T-cell immune response targeted the IW9 epitope early in the infection had significantly longer times until onset of AIDS than those who did not.
The researchers note that the study sample was small – 14 subjects – and that the study should be repeated with a larger number of subjects. Also, the results point to a correlation with, rather than causation of slower disease progression among B57 carriers who target the IW9 epitope soon after infection. The full report was published in the Journal of Virology.
CLICK HERE to read the full article.
September 27th, 2012 marked the fifth observance of National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day. It is a day where we recognize that while the progress made in reducing HIV mortality and morbidity is remarkable, people aging with HIV face multiple, unique challenges. By 2015 over half of all people living with HIV in the US will be over age 50. A major reason for the ‘greying’ of HIV in the US is due to the tremendous success of medications that have dramatically increased the lifespans of people living with HIV.
About 10% of new HIV infections in the United States occur among persons over 50. HIV prevention among older adults is complicated because clinicians are less likely to consider the possibility of HIV infection in this population. Part of the reason for this is that the overwhelming majority of new HIV infections in the US occur among younger populations. However, decreased testing rates mean that older adults are more likely than younger adults to be diagnosed later in their disease progression (i.e. more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS less than a year after diagnosis).
Racial and ethnic disparities observed in the US HIV epidemic overall are reflected among older persons living with HIV. The rates of HIV/AIDS among people over 50 are 12 times higher for African-Americans and 5 times higher for Latinos compared with whites, which has implications for life expectancy as well as HIV transmission because black and Latino populations generally are less likely to have access to clinical care.
While more people aging with HIV are living healthier, more productive lives than ever before, growing older with HIV may present multiple medical challenges. Because the immune systems of people living with HIV are constantly fighting infection, they are more prone to ongoing inflammation which is associated with co-morbid conditions associated with aging such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer. Liver disease, often the result of co-infection with hepatitis C, is prevalent. Decreased bone density is also common, potential due to combination of the normal aging process, medication side effects, and the direct effects of the virus itself
Over the past several years, the US government has drawn attention to the issue of HIV and aging. In 2010, President Obama released the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States. HIV and aging was among the issues outlined in the Strategy. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration on Aging (AoA), the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have also moved the HIV and aging agenda forward.
In the past year, HHS AoA held a webinar on (The Graying of HIV/AIDS) to provide information on seniors living with HIV and seniors at risk for HIV. HHS AoA also produced and released a toolkit to inform older adults about HIV risks and to encourage older adults to know their HIV status. The VA continues to be at the forefront of HIV and research through ongoing implementation of the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS). VACS, a study that includes HIV-positive as well as HIV-negative veterans, follows participants over time and evaluates the health of veterans. Much of what we have learned about HIV and aging has arisen from VACS analyses.
HIV and aging has also been a major focus at National Institutes of Health (NIH). Over the past year, the NIH has released several research funding announcements specific to HIV and aging and in July NIH released HIV and aging was one of the topic areas during the International HIV/AIDS Conference. In addition, the NIH Office of AIDS Research recently released a report on HIV and aging. The comprehensive report, based upon consultation from an expert working group, 1) summarizes knowledge and state the problem in research area; 2) identifies priority research areas; 3) points out specific knowledge gaps; and 4) suggest research to address gaps.
Progress has been made in research and programs with regard to aging and HIV, but more remains to be done. As part of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, Federal efforts will continue to help people aging with HIV not only live longer, but maximize their health and wellness.
Dr. Grant Colfax is the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy.
The Adolescent Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions is recruiting potential scholars and mentors to participate in the ATN mentoring program, a 36 month mentored research education program to prepare youth-focused interdisciplinary HIV related-research and advance the ATN’s research agenda. Many of you have post docs, residents, or junior faculty who may benefit from the program. Could you please circulate the attached “Call for Scholars” to those who might be interested?
We are also recruiting for mentors. Are you or someone you know interested in helping to develop the next generation of youth focused HIV researchers? Please circulate the attached “Call for Scholars”. The program is exciting and promises to be of benefit for both scholars and mentors.
[Download not found]
[Download not found]
Applications are due on October 19, 2012!
Please contact Isa Fernández, Ph.D. at mariafer@nova.edu or 305-576-1777 if you have any questions
AIDS Concern, an HIV awareness group in Hong Kong, claims Grindr, a gay dating mobile app, is contributing tothe rise in new HIV cases in the city among men who have sex with men, China Daily reports. From April to June, 131 new HIV cases were diagnosed, which is the highest quarterly total since record-keeping started in 1984. The department of health is concerned that total new HIV cases in 2012 could surpass 500, which would be a first. The awareness group also blamed the HIV increase on a lack of sex education in schools.
CLICK HERE to read the full article.
HIV infection rates across the country’s general population have been fairly stable for the last few years. But one group showed a significant increase in HIV infections: men who have sex with men, or MSM, aged 13-29. Though this generation of young gay men has been raised in a more HIV-aware world, all of the outreach and awareness work still does not explain why the rates won’t stop ticking up.
Coincidentally, recent advances in technology have paved a new way for gay and bisexual men to find sexual partners. In 2009 many developers launched location-based mobile apps geared toward gay and bisexual men, allowing users to scan for nearby men, chat with them, and meet, often for sexual encounters. For example, Grindr counts more than 3.5 million users in 192 nations, just three years after its launch. Other popular apps include Scruff, Manhunt, and Growlr, in addition to traditional social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Several studies link unprotected sex with the use of mobile apps and the Internet, alcohol, drugs, and sexually charged venues for hooking up with potential sexual partners. But we set out to understand how young men who use these apps perceive HIV, their knowledge on the facts of the virus, and how they view their own risk of getting the virus. Our pool of participants included 686 gay and bisexual males over the age of 18 (the average age was about 36) who use location-based mobile apps to meet sexual partners.
The survey found that reasons behind risk-taking behaviors during intercourse go well beyond lack of knowledge and HIV status. Most people could identify the fluids that can transmit HIV, like blood. And while 91% of participants say they know how to protect themselves from HIV, nearly 70% of the study participants said they’re afraid of getting the virus or getting reinfected. The vast majority of respondents considers barebacking, or unprotected anal sex, to be dangerous. Yet 46.4% of respondents have engaged in bareback sex, versus 53.6% who reportedly never engage in unprotected anal intercourse.
CLICK HERE to read the full article