The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a consortium of Chicago-based institutions, led by Rush University Medical Center, a five-year, $3.75-million grant to establish a Developmental Center for AIDS Research, creating a comprehensive research infrastructure to spur basic science, clinical studies and translational research in the prevention, detection and treatment of HIV infection and AIDS.

The new center is one of only two in the Midwest - the other is in Cleveland, Ohio - and was the only developmental center funded this year. NIH has funded 20 such centers at major academic institutions across the country.

The center in Chicago involves investigators from Rush, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Cook County Health and Hospitals System, who will collaborate across disciplines and institutions to advance HIV/AIDS research. Chicago ranks sixth among U.S. cities in the number of HIV cases, with approximately 21,000 known infections and another 5,000 presumed infections.

“With this grant, we have an unparalleled opportunity to make Chicago an epicenter for AIDS research, focusing on translational research that takes investigations from bench to bedside, and out to the community, to make a truly significant impact,” said Alan Landay, PhD, chairman of immunology and microbiology at Rush, director of the new center, and an internationally recognized expert in immunology and HIV pathogenesis.

The NIH funding will be used to create shared “core” facilities that provide expertise and services to participating laboratories at all three institutions.

Rush will head the administrative and developmental cores, with responsibility for strategic planning and operational management. It will oversee scientific communications and funding for important new areas of research and launch a special outreach effort to share advances with the affected community in Chicago.

The University of Illinois at Chicago will direct the basic science and the social and behavioral sciences cores. The basic science core will provide access to, and training in, state-of-the-art technologies for laboratory investigations in virology, molecular biology, immunology and other areas. The social and behavioral sciences core will support research involving social, behavioral and psychosocial issues and facilitate studies and interventions in local, national and international communities.

“Numerous scientists and community activists in our three institutions have been working largely independently to reduce the scourge of HIV/AIDS. This research initiative will provide opportunities for us to share and build upon our varied expertise and perspectives. I fully expect new prevention and treatment strategies to arise from this exciting collaboration,” said Robert Bailey, PhD, professor of epidemiology at the UIC School of Public Health and co-director of the new AIDS research center.

Cook County Health and Hospitals System will direct the clinical core, assisting investigators with clinical and epidemiologic research and facilitating translation of basic science discoveries into the patient care realm. The Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center for the Prevention, Care and Research of Infectious Diseases, a partnership between Rush and Cook County, sees more than 5,000 HIV-infected individuals each year from diverse communities and has extensive expertise in HIV clinical care and clinical research.

“By including Cook County Health and Hospitals System, the outstanding research team brought together by this grant will be able to address issues that increase HIV-associated morbidity and mortality among the disadvantaged minority populations we serve. That is an extremely important mission for the new center,” said Dr. Audrey French, director of the clinical core and director of research at Cook County’s CORE Center.

The Developmental Center for AIDS Research in Chicago will concentrate its investigations around three themes: HIV and women, with an emphasis on behavior and viral pathogenesis; HIV and aging, including studies of behavioral, cardiovascular, immune system and neurocognitive issues; and HIV and drug abuse, focusing on behavioral questions and neuropharmacology.

Source:
Sharon Butler

Rush University Medical Center

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Concluding his recent trip to Zimbabwe, the Global AIDS Coordinator for PEPFAR Eric Goosby said the country can rebuild and strengthen its health care delivery systems, the Zimbabwean reports. “I have seen fatigue in health care delivery in the country. A fatigue that that has come out of sustaining the response (to HIV and AIDS) with diminishing resources, but at the same time a feeling of hope and anticipation that they have hit bottom and are now on the return,” Goosby said (9/4).

As part of his trip, Goosby toured PEPFAR-sponsored programs in Zimbabwe, including a hospital clinic that provides treatment and other programs for HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and a male circumcision site, the Standard/allAfrica.com reports. “We are anxious to engage with ministries at both the national, provincial and district levels to develop these systems of care that allow for the movement of patients into the system and for those that need more specialised care,” Goosby said (Shoko, 9/5).

In related news, Al Jazeera examines the lack of access to antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS patients in Zimbabwe. The video report is part of a series on the stigma of HIV/AIDS (Mutasa, 9/5).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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At the conclusion of the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa, African health ministers agreed on four resolutions that aim to improve health on the continent, the Guardian reports. The regional committee adopted resolutions that deal with drug-resistance related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; malaria elimination in Africa; and preparedness and response for the current H1N1 (swine) flu pandemic. The fourth resolution deals with establishing high-quality institutions for disease surveillance, food and medicine regulation and other public health-related interventions, according to the Guardian (Ukwuoma, 9/8).

Rwandan Health Minister Richard Sezibera said although Rwanda had already implemented those resolutions, the country should “increase the level of progress on the different policies,” New Times/allAfrica.com reports. Oumar Ibrahima Toure, Mali’s health minister, said his government will focus on immediately addressing maternal mortality, which was one of the major issues raised during the summit. “The maternal death rates in Africa are very alarming despite progress attained in other areas. It is not right for a woman to die while giving life. So our health system will ensure increased interventions in curbing the death rate of mothers,” he said. Swaziland’s health minister said his country will emphasize dealing with HIV/TB coinfection (Nambi, 9/5).

The next committee meeting is scheduled for 2010 in Equatorial Guinea (WHO/AFRO release, 9/4).

U.N. Special Envoy For TB Addresses Meeting

Jorge Sampaio, the U.N. special envoy for TB, addressed the meeting and highlighted HIV/TB coinfection and living conditions of women worldwide, which he said contribute to making TB “among the biggest killers of women in the world.” The speech reflected on TB control achievements and also outlined some of the major current challenges. Health-e published an edited version of the speech (9/7).

Citing Rwanda’s progress in its fight against HIV/AIDS after a meeting with President Paul Kagame, Sampaio said the country can lead Africa’s fight against TB. “Rwanda has demonstrated the capacity to deal with epidemics. The efforts are really appreciated. It has led the way in establishing a good healthcare system. TB and HIV/AIDS have been tackled profoundly and we think Rwanda can be a case study for the rest of the continent,” Sampaio said, New Times/allAfrica.com writes (Kagire, 9/4).

In a related story that examines tuberculosis in Nigeria and public misunderstanding about the disease, 234next.com talks with experts about how to curtail TB’s spread and improve access to treatment that is free in many parts of the country (Adelaja, 9/5).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.