Trans-NIH and Other Collaborative Activities
As part of its role to coordinate and prioritize HIV and AIDS malignancy research, OHAM interfaces with the Office of AIDS Research and other Institutes and Centers to coordinate HIV/AIDS training, research, and clinical trial efforts conducted throughout the NIH more effectively. Also, OHAM has shared oversight for a number of the trans-NIH and other collaborative programs described below.
Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS)
The MACS is an ongoing prospective study started in 1984 of the natural and treated histories of HIV-1 infection in homosexual and bisexual men conducted at various sites throughout the United States. Initially 5,622 men were enrolled in the study, with an additional 1,356 predominantly minority men added from 2001–2003. The MACS allows for cohort-based surveillance of the occurrence, distribution and determinants of HIV-associated cancers. Data and specimens collected from study participants have been compiled in a National Repository that serves as a highly valuable resource in deepening the understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease
Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS)
The WIHS investigates the impact of HIV infection on women in the United States. The initial enrollment included 2,625 women, with an additional 1,143 women enrolled in 2001–2002. The core portion of the study includes a detailed and structured interview, physical, and gynecologic examinations, as well as laboratory testing. The WIHS participants are also asked to enroll in various sub-studies, such as cardiovascular, metabolic, physical functioning, neurocognition, and cancer. These sub-studies provide data on the incidence of AIDS-defining and non-AIDS defining cancers in the cohort. In addition, sera and plasma from HIV-positive women who develop cervical squamous cell abnormalities are collected and donated to the AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR).
The International epidemiological Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA)
The IeDEA is a consortium of regional centers that collect and harmonize high quality data from HIV/AIDS research efforts throughout the world. This initiative provides a means to effectively pool the collected data—thus providing a cost effective avenue of generating large data sets that can address unique and evolving research questions in HIV/AIDS, including cancer-related questions, currently unanswerable by single cohorts.
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CFARs are exploring new approaches to translate laboratory findings into clinical practice. |
Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR)
The CFAR program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides administrative and shared research support to enhance and coordinate high quality HIV research projects, including HIV-associated malignancies. CFARs accomplish this through core facilities that provide expertise, resources, and services not otherwise readily obtained through more traditional funding mechanisms. Co-funded by seven NIH Institutes, CFARs promote interdisciplinary collaboration to accelerate translation of laboratory findings into clinical applications.
AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP)
The AITRP provides training for scientists from institutions in low- and middle-income countries to strengthen HIV-related research. Institutions in the United States with strong HIV-related research training experience receive grants to establish full research training programs at institutions in these countries. The collaborative effort enables the development of multidisciplinary biomedical, behavioral, and social science research capacities for the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS and HIV-related conditions in resource-poor settings. The NCI partners with AITRP grantees to expand research training related to HIV-associated malignancies in these countries.
International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT)
INSIGHT is a network of HIV/AIDS clinical trials aimed at the development of strategies for the optimization of antiretroviral and immunomodulatory therapies. The network also focuses on interventions to prevent and treat complications of HIV and antiretroviral therapies in order to prolong disease-free survival in the demographically, geographically, and socio-economically diverse population of individuals infected with HIV. These trials also offer the opportunity to study malignancies that arise in patients receiving antiretroviral therapy.
CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS)
The CNICS project is the first electronic medical records-based resource network poised to integrate clinical data from the large and diverse population of HIV-infected persons who are receiving care at one of the CFAR sites. Unlike data collected in structured interviews or through retrospective medical record review, CNICS captures a broader range of information associated with the rapidly changing course of HIV disease management through collection of data at the point-of-care. CNICS offers a unique opportunity to describe the changing history of malignant disorders in HIV-infected persons on antiretroviral therapy and beyond.
U.S.-India Activities under the Joint Statement on Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDS
The U.S.-India Agreement supports innovative and basic research on strategies to prevent HIV infection and transmission through the collaborative efforts of U.S. and Indian investigators and their institutions. The program seeks to advance a multifaceted approach to prevention that addresses the role of other co-infections (e.g., KSHV/HHV-8, HCV, HPV and TB), behavioral and social interactions, epidemiological factors, and co-morbidities associated with HIV transmission. Two extramural research initiatives have been sponsored as part of this Agreement: 1) a request for grant supplement applications (NOT-AI-07-022) and 2) a call for exploratory/developmental (R21) research grant applications (RFA-AI-07-031).
