The University of Washington (UW) International AIDS Research and Training Program (IARTP) has trained investigators in HIV/AIDS research for the last 15 years and currently emphasizes research and training in four target countries: Kenya, Peru, Mozambique, and Thailand. Through this supplement the Program proposes to develop a fifth AITRP site in New Delhi at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to address the growing HIV epidemic in India. The UW AITRP selected AIIMS as the site for program expansion for several reasons. First, AIIMS is a premier institution for biomedical research and training in India and successful collaborative research is already being performed between scientists at the UW (Uma Malhotra and Julie McElrath) and AIIMS (Pradeep Seth and Madhu Vajpayee) within the framework of an existing longitudinal cohort of HIV-1 infected subjects at AIIMS. Second, UW International Training and Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (ITREID) has a site in New Delhi and the two programs will collaborate in their research and training efforts in the region. The AITRP program direction and the core/resource faculty will be identical to that described for the parent program. Drs. Malhotra and McElrath at the UW and their AIIMS collaborators, Drs. Seth and Vajpayee, will be key in developing India as a new AITRP site. The overall goal of this proposal is to develop a center for excellence in HIV-1 research in India with independent and sustainable research capacities in the prevention and control of HIV. A number of training needs and research priorities have been identified and include: a) Strengthening of the infrastructure for field research through training and capacity building in the area, b) Development of the site for international research trials to assess prevention and treatment regimens through training in clinical research c) Strengthening the immunology research program through training of laboratory scientists in state-of-the-art immunology assays. The site will emphasize training in the Epidemiology Track and the Laboratory Track and will focus on long term and medium-term training. Recruitment of scientists into the Laboratory Track will occur in the Department of Microbiology under the direction of Drs. Seth and Vajpayee. Recruitment efforts for trainees interested in the Epidemiology Track will take place in the Department of Community Medicine in collaboration with Dr. Bir Singh, the Head of the AIDS Education and Training Program in New Delhi. Collaborative research and training during the first year will emphasize: a) Seroprevalence and correlates of HIV-1 seropositivity in patients attending the Sexually Transmitted Infection Clinic, b) Clinical profile of HIV-1 Clade C infection in India, c) Cellular immunity to HIV-1 Clade C viruses and diversity considerations in vaccine development, and d) HIV-1 shedding and mucosal immunity. The existing longitudinal patient cohort will provide a foundation for new cohorts and continued collaborative research. Through these endeavors in multidisciplinary research and training, it is anticipated that the program will facilitate the establishment of critical expertise in biomedical and prevention research at the AIIMS to combat the growing HIV-1 epidemic in the region. ? ? ?
Showing the most recent 10 out of 263 publications
