November 14th, 2019 – The theme of this year’s Annual Commission meeting was, “Renewed Opportunities & Collaborations in Times of Urgency to End the HIV Epidemic.” Stakeholders from the region presented upcoming initiatives to end the epidemic, highlighting specific projects funded by the NIH in response to the official state of emergency declared by the national government. Presentations were given by Mario Perez of the Division of HIV and STD Programs (DHSP), Britt Skaathun from the UCSD School of Medicine, Marisa Ramos from the California Department of Public Health, CDR Michelle Sandoval- Rosario from PACE Region 9, and LCDR Jose Antonio Oritz also from PACE Region 9. Raphael Landovitz from UCLA’s Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatments Service (CHIPTS) also presented, noting overviews of the center’s three key initiatives:
Regional Response to HIV Eradication Efforts in Southern CA Counties
Project leads: Steven Shoptaw, PhD, and Uyen Kao, MPH
EtHE pillar: Respond
Goal: To identify the infrastructure, resources, and capacity building needs to support regional coordination among LAC and other CA counties.
Use of technology-based pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services to improve uptake, adherence, and persistence among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and young transgender (YTG) persons of color
Project leads: Ronald A. Brooks, PhD and Dilara Uskup, PhD
EtHE pillar: Protect
Goal: To assess how technology-based delivery systems can potentially enhance PrEP uptake, adherence, and persistence among key populations for LAC.
Preparing for long-acting injectable treatment for HIV in Los Angeles
Project leads: Raphael Landovitz, MD, MSc and David Goodman-Meza, MD
EtHE pillar: Treat
Goal: To understand the barriers to and facilitators of successful implementation of long-acting injectable (LAI) antiretroviral therapy (ART) as part of a strategy to optimize viral suppression for LAC.
Public health leaders and community partners further shared insights and perspectives on how to end the HIV epidemic, including Barbara Ferrer and Jeffrey Gunzenhauser of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and Louise McCarthy from Community Clinics Association of Los Angeles County. The meeting concluded with breakout sessions dedicated to creating an effective and responsive community planning structure.
Information provided in the meeting’s packet (including agenda, speaker bios, and presentation summary) alongside presentation slides are available for download below. Videos of each presenter are available on our YouTube channel, and linked at the bottom of this page. Check out our mini gallery from the meeting on our CHIPTS Facebook page.
CHIPTS welcomed our newly elected CHIPTS Community Advisory Board Co-Chairs, Dahlia Ferlito and Chassity Griffin, to the position on Friday, October 18th, 2019 for the 2019-2020 year. Dahlia, who was re-elected for a third term, and Chassity both have a great wealth of experience and vision that will direct the CAB in reaching its full potential. The CHIPTS CAB has long been a place of collaboration and discussion between our researchers and the communities affected by HIV. The goal of this advisory group is to ensure the research, dissemination, and activities conducted by CHIPTS researchers are relevant and meaningful to the lives of the diverse communities we serve.
Dahlia and Chassity each shared their thoughts on leading this board together for the upcoming year:
Dahlia hopes to continue building synergy within the CAB and to develop projects that bring about change for people affected by HIV in Los Angeles and beyond. With the CAB being an active team of members possessing a tremendous amount of expertise in various content areas, she is excited for the possibilities in harnessing the Board’s collective power to support research initiatives and translate knowledge acquired through research to communities in an accessible and meaningful way.
Chassity echoed similar sentiments. She has a set the primary intention to lead the CAB in their efforts to continue driving meaningful activities serving communities affected by HIV. To this end, her goal is to facilitate a space where the CAB can translate their ideas into supporting the development of research at CHIPTS, and also translate those ideas into initiatives that will have the greatest impact for the populations being served. Lastly, Chasity aims to collaboratively work with Dahlia, encouraging the CAB to bring value based contributions that will ultimately help improve the lives and health outcomes of at-risk and affected populations.
Both Co-Chairs are looking forward to continue guiding the CAB in a progressive direction, helping to create awareness, provide feedback to investigators, and effectively disseminate research information to target communities.
We are so excited to have them on board this year!
May 22, 2019 – Over 170 community providers, educators, policy makers, and stakeholders joined us at St. Anne’s for a training on HIV and methamphetamine in Los Angeles County. Dr. Steve Shoptaw, Director of UCLA CHIPTS and Dr. Ian Holloway of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs opened the morning with remarks laying the groundwork for the training. The day’s agenda included presentations from Drs. Steve Shoptaw, Cathy Reback from Friends Research Institute, Ekow Sey from LAC Division of HIV and STD Programs, and Lello Tesema of LAC Substance Abuse Prevention and Control , highlighting the trends and depth of the Meth Crisis within Los Angeles county. The event concluded with a panel discussion on methamphetamine and stimulant use in special populations.
The meeting agenda, speaker bios, and presentation slides are available for download below. A full video of the training is linked at the bottom of this page. Visit the CHIPTS Facebook page for a mini gallery of the event.
April 5, 2019 – Members of the CHIPTS Community Advisory Board (CAB) 2018-2019 cohort gathered for the first annual CHIPTS CAB Retreat to discuss and prioritize community needs and develop research ideas that will be implementable and actionable within the community.
CAB members came up with three top priority research areas for CHIPTS to focus on in the upcoming year.Members of CHIPTS faculty joined the meeting to discuss these community priorities, provide feedback and identify specific research areas for future initiatives in collaboration with members of our CAB.
CHIPTS is glad to have hosted a productive and collaborative day that was inspirational to all attendees. The center is eager to implement these ideas in collaboration with the CAB as actionable initiatives in the near future.
March 7th, 2019 – Researchers from UCLA, The RAND Corporation, The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Charles R. Drew University, Harvard Medical School, Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Stellenbosch University, and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation gathered at the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center for a learning session on “HIV Exposed Children and Early Childhood Development.”
Laurie Bruns created an in-depth, insightful report on the learning session including overviews of all presentations, participant input, and specific discussion points that were brought up throughout the day. You can download her report here:
Early Child Development - HIV Exposed Children Learning Session Final Report
Co-Chairs Thomas Coates from UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Lisa Bohmer from the Hilton Foundation opened up the day and welcomed the diverse group to the learning session. Lisa Bohmer followed with a presentation on “The Nurturing Care Framework and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Initiative for Young Children Affected by HIV and AIDS” and had a great discussion in the room on this approach.
The day continued with presentations from Amy Slogrove and Kathleen Powis, Catherine Sandhofer, and Kate Dovel and Laurie Bruns. You can find their full presentations as well as the agenda, information packet, and attendee list available for download below.
UCLA’s integration of early childhood development training into ART delivery in Malawi
Kate Dovel PhD and Laurie Bruns MSc MPH
Additional Insights from maternal mental health, stigma, and substance abuse; experiences of trauma and disaster; reproductive health and birth spacing; other health issues of infants and children in low and middle income countries
Commentary from implementers Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation; Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS
Recommendations for Research, Policy, and Program Implementation
January 25, 2019 – The 2019 HIV Next Generation Conference, hosted by CHIPTS welcomed 121 attendees to the UCLA Campus for a day of discussion, learning, and networking. Drs. Steve Shoptaw and Norweeta Milburn gave compelling opening remarks to start the day and was followed by an inspiring and dynamic plenary by USC’s Dr. Ricky N. Bluthenthal, who spoke on his work in the community over the last 25 years.
Dr. Ricky N. Bluthenthal giving the opening plenary. The day’s agenda featured seven trainees who gave oral presentations of their research projects and received thought provoking questions from the audience, which ranged from researchers, community providers, faculty members, and other students. In addition, seven trainees presented their work through the poster session, lending to many lively conversations that engaged undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers with faculty and the community.
In addition, the conference featured a policy impact panel lead by our Policy Core director Dr. Arleen Leibowitz and included Dr. Ninez Ponce, Ricky Rosales, Craig Pulsipher, and Dr. Nina Harawa. The panel was diverse in background with panelists from the city, state, and various levels of educational institutions which created a stimulating conversation on the impact of policy on research and, likewise, research on policy. Wendy Garland giving an update on the Los Angeles County HIV/AIDS Strategy for 2020 and Beyond.
Ms. Wendy Garland of the Los Angeles County Division on HIV and STD Programs (DHSP) gave the afternoon plenary presentation. She provided an update on the Los Angeles County HIV/AIDS Strategy for 2020 and Beyondinitiative (https://www.lacounty.hiv/) as well as some key collaborations with CHIPTS. In addition to sharing the priorities for HIV and STD prevention and treatment for Los Angeles County, she highlighted a number of collaborations in the works, which received excitement from many conference attendees.
Dr. Steve Shoptaw, CHIPTS Center Director, giving the closing plenary for the day. Dr. Steve Shoptaw presented the closing plenary on Methamphetamine and HIV Treatment and Prevention that gave insight into the current state of the opioid crisis and it’s impact on those living with HIV and those at risk. Dr. Norweeta Milburn‘s left everyone inspired and hopeful for the future with her closing statements, proving the conference to be a full day of science, networking, and learning.
You can download all of the presentations (individually or in one pdf) and the full program below! We’ve also posted our Gallery on Facebook so make sure to check out all of the photos from the conference.
Steve Shoptaw, PhD Director, UCLA CHIPTS Professor, UCLA Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science Vice Chair, Research in Family Medicine
Norweeta Milburn, PhD Professor-in-Residence, UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Co-Director, UCLA HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse, and Trauma Training Program (HA-STTP) Director, UCLA Center For AIDS Research Health Disparities Core Director, Development Core, UCLA CHIPTS
Discussant, Ricky N. Bluthenthal, PhD Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine Professor, Institute for Prevention Research, USC Keck School of Medicine
Arleen Leibowitz , PhD UCLA, CHIPTS Policy Core Professor Emeritus, Department of Public Policy, UCLA School of Public Affairs
Ninez Ponce, MPP, PhD Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA FSPH UCLA California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)
Ricky Rosales, BA LA City AIDS Coordinator
Craig Pulsipher, MPP, MSW State Affairs Specialist, APLA
Nina Harawa, PhD, MPH UCLA, CHIPTS Policy Core Professor, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Adolescent (HIV) Trials Network (ATN)
Discussant, Dallas Swendeman, PhD, MPH Co-Director, Development Core, UCLA CHIPTS Associate Professor, UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Co-Director, UCGHI Center of Expertise on Women’s Health, Gender and Empowerment
Discussant, Cathy Reback, PhD Senior Research Scientist, Friends Research Institute, Inc. Executive Director, Friends Community Center Core Director, Combination Prevention Core, UCLA CHIPTS
Methamphetamine and HIV Treatment and Prevention Steve Shoptaw, PhD Director, UCLA CHIPTS Professor, UCLA Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science Vice Chair, Research in Family Medicine
Closing Remarks
Norweeta Milburn, PhD Professor-in-Residence, UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Co-Director, UCLA HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse, and Trauma Training Program (HA-STTP) Director, UCLA Center For AIDS Research Health Disparities Core Director, Development Core, UCLA CHIPTS
Steve Shoptaw, PhD Director, UCLA CHIPTS Professor, UCLA Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science Vice Chair, Research in Family Medicine
Joan Christodoulou, PhD Crystal clear with the Medication Adherence Trainer (MAT): An interactive educational demonstration to increase knowledge and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among youth living with HIV
Our Center Director Dr. Steve Shoptaw moderated an event by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council titled “The American Opioid Crisis: A Discussion with Chris McGreal, Author of American Overdose” in Culver City on November 28th. Check out the summary from the event below!
Last year, thousands of Americans died from overdosing on prescription painkillers. The issue, says Guardian journalist and author Chris McGreal, is not just misuse, but over-prescription by doctors and a lack of proper regulation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). McGreal was joined in conversation by UCLA professor and psychologist Steven Shoptaw.
The prescription epidemic started when big pharmaceutical companies successfully convinced medical boards and hospitals to include pain as a vital sign and that it had to be treated as a primary issue, opening the door for over-prescribing. Doctors are now pressured by hospital ethics committees to over-prescribe since being pain free is seen as a human right. On top of that, doctors often learn how to prescribe for a drug from the instructions that come with it, which are written by the marketing departments of drug companies, not by physicians. “Opioids are now the default treatment for pain no matter how weak or strong it is.”
When addicts are no longer able to get what they need from a doctor, they often turn to the black market, where the drugs are often provided by the cartels. The cartels realized they could acquire fentanyl from China, where it is manufactured legally, much cheaper than growing poppies to produce heroin and other opioids. As expected, there is little quality control and batches often contain a mixture of fentanyl cut in with other dangerous drugs, creating extremely lethal concoctions.
Another major influence on the opioid epidemic is the relationship between the FDA and big pharmaceutical companies. “Nearly 60 percent of the FDA’s funding comes from drug companies.” This financial reliance has fundamentally changed the way the FDA regulates medications, and they have frequently approved drugs that their physician and scientist advisory board has denied in the name of an open and fair market.
In October 2017, the Trump administration declared the opioid crisis a Public Health Emergency under federal law. Last month, President Trump signed the Support for Patients and Community Act with wide support from Congress and advocacy groups. The legislation takes aim at the crisis in a variety of ways including curbing shipments of opioids like fentanyl from entering the country, expanding Medicare coverage for treatment and freeing up the National Institutes of Health to conduct more research into non-addictive painkillers.
To read more about the opioid crisis, you can purchase a copy of McGreal’s new book American Overdose by clicking here.
The 2018 HIV Research for Prevention Conference (HIVR4P) was held in Madrid, Spain from October 21-25, 2018. The conference supports the exchange of research on HIV vaccines, microbicides, PrEP, treatment as prevention, and other biomedical prevention approaches through a range of engaging plenary sessions, oral/poster sessions, symposia and roundtables, and pre-conference satellite sessions. To view the full conference program, please click here.
CHIPTS hosted a pre-conference satellite session at HIV R4P, entitled “It Only Hurts a Little: Long-Acting Injectables (LAI) for Prevention and Treatment,” that drew an audience of over 150 researchers, policy makers, community advocates, and other key stakeholders. The session included two moderated panels aimed at examining the clinical, behavioral, policy and community considerations associated with the implementation of long-acting injectable antiretrovirals for prevention and treatment. The panels featured leading experts from around the world, including Drs. Linda-Gail Bekker, Beatriz Grinsztejn, Giang Minh Le, Nyaradzo Mgodi, Santiago Moreno, Omar Sued, Ms. Elizabeth Gardiner and Mr. Jonathan Lucas, and moderated by Drs. Raphael Landovitz and Aadia Rana. The satellite session was successful in engaging both panelists and audience in a productive discussion that provided insight into the preparation and considerations for future implementation of LAIs among key populations within different resource settings. To see the agenda, click here. To view photos from the event, click here.
Our Center Co-Director, Dr. Raphael Landovitz, also delivered an exciting plenary presentation on, “Beyond TDF/FTC: The Future of Systemic Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.” In the U.S., vulnerable populations with minimal adherence and uptake still exist due to social, structural and access obstacles asserting that more choices are important in order to address adherence. Dr. Landovitz discussed the role of maraviroc in HIV therapeutics, citing HPTN 069 as well as the current view of TAF/FTC as a favorable treatment therapy, though its role in prevention is still unclear. He also highlighted the long-acting agents rilpivirine and cabotegravir, stating its efficacy as reported in recent studies.
Our CHIPTS faculty were also involved in a number of scientific presentations at the conference, as listed below:
CHIPTS was proud to be a part of HIVR4P 2018 in a meaningful and impactful way and to contribute to the important data sharing and discussions that occurred at the conference.
We’ll be uploading more photos from the conference in addition to the satellite session photos so make sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter and don’t forget to subscribe to our listserv to hear about more events like this!
We held our pre-conference satellite session, “It Only Hurts a Little: Long-Acting Injectables for HIV Prevention and Treatment,” at the HIV Research For Prevention (HIVR4P) Conference in Madrid, Spain on Monday, October 22, 2018. With a full house, we had great conversations on both of our moderated panels discussing the clinical, behavioral, policy, and community considerations associated with the implementation of long-acting injectable antiretrovirals for both HIV prevention and treatment.
We, at the Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services (CHIPTS), were thrilled to hold this satellite session in collaboration with the HIV Prevention Trials Network, AIDS Clinical Trials Group, and UCLA Center for AIDS Research.
Photos from the event will be up soon so make sure to like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for the latest updates! To learn more about future events such as this one, make sure to subscribe to our listserv.
Agenda
11:30 Lunch and Registration
12:00 Welcome
12:10 Opening Remarks – Steve Shoptaw, PhD
12:20 Panel 1: Preparing for Long Acting Injectable for Prevention
Raphael Landovitz, MD, MSc (Moderator)
CHIPTS, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Beatriz Grinsztejn, MD, PhD
Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas-Fiocruz, Brazil
Nyaradzo M. Mgodi, MBChB, MMed
University of Zimbabwe –University of California, San Francisco, USA
Giang Minh Le, MD, PhD
Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam
Elizabeth Gardiner
AVAC, USA
1:30 Break
1:40 Panel 2: Preparing for Long Acting Injectable for Treatment
Aadia Rana, MD (Moderator)
University of Alabama-Birmingham, USA
Linda-Gail Bekker, MBChB, DTMH, DCH, FCP(SA), PhD
Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Santiago Moreno, PhD
University of Alcala de Henares, Spain
Omar Sued, MD, MSc, PhD
Fundación Huésped, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jonathan Lucas, MPH
HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN)
May 31, 2018 –CHIPTS held its annual retreat and strategic planning meeting on Thursday, May 31, 2018 in Los Angeles. The theme of the meeting was “Getting to 2020: Planning for the Future for Biobehavioral HIV Prevention.” The meeting was successful in bringing over 70 core faculty members, staff, scientific and community stakeholders to engage in a strategic planning process.
Dr. Steve Shoptaw, CHIPTS Director, led and moderated the day. The meeting began with opening remarks by Dr. Kelsey Martin, Dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine, and Dr. Patrick Dowling, Chair of UCLA Department of Family Medicine, which set the stage for a productive day of planning, networking, and exchanging ideas. In addition to our core faculty, staff, and trainees, the meeting was attended by members of the CHIPTS’ community and scientific advisory boards, who gave valuable feedback and guidance regarding the center’s scientific direction, community engagement, and dissemination efforts.
Mr. Mario Perez, Director of the Los Angeles County Division on HIV and STD Programs (DHSP), presented on the local HIV/AIDS Strategy. Dr. Lynn Gordon, Senior Associate Dean of Diversity Affairs at UCLA also delivered an important presentation on the topic of workplace diversity and shared efforts that were being implemented within the David Geffen School of Medicine to address this topic. The meeting proved to be a productive day, filled with stimulating conversations that generated many new research ideas, collaborations, and action steps to advance CHIPTS’ overall mission.
