The Mombasa HIV/STD Research Site was founded by Dr. Joan Kreiss in 1993 the site has provided ongoing outpatient clinical care to more 3,500 HIV-positive or high risk women, and ongoing voluntary counseling and testing services to more than 10,000 women from the community. Since its inception, the research site has been home to a cohort of more than 1,800 seronegative Female Sex Workers (FSW) who attend monthly interviews, physical examinations and laboratory testing resulting in a plethora of data on seroconversion, STD incidence, and behavioral data. This cohort and the data generated from the research site have resulted in an international reputation for studies of risk factors for HIV acquisition and the biology of acute HIV infection. Building off the strong community linkages through the cohort at the Mombasa site, research opportunities have been leverages to provide training to more than fifty Kenyan investigators, clinicians, laboratory scientists, and government officials. The Research Site has been home to more than 25 major grants from the US Government, private foundations, and industry, resulting in more than 200 peer-reviewed publications of original research. The active federally-funded grants at the research site demonstrate a wide variety of research activities in Mombasa including implementation science research on HIV-testing and family planning, the vaginal microbiome, and the virology and immunology of acute HIV-infection and reinfection. Through the 25th Anniversary Symposium, we will review the current science and identify future research directions in collaboration with US and Kenyan researchers, trainees, Ministry of Health representatives, and the community.
The specific aims of this symposium are: 1. To review and celebrate the scientific and training successes of the Mombasa HIV/STD Field Site, with an emphasis on translating past successes into continuing research and training opportunities. 2. To foster linkages between junior investigators and mentors to continue a strong pipeline of young US and Kenyan investigators, emphasizing opportunities to leverage resources to support the transition of trainees into independent research careers. 3. To develop and map a plan for continued collaborative research and training into the next 25 years.
The Mombasa HIV/STD Research Site was founded in 1993 by Drs. Julie Overbaugh, Joan Kreiss, Kishorchandra Mandalyia, and Jeckoniah Ndinya-Achola. Since then, this NIH-supported site has provided HIV testing to more than 9,700 high-risk women, and enrolled over 3,700 HIV-positive and HIV-negative women into the Mombasa Cohort, a long-term open cohort study. The Mombasa Cohort has remained at the leading edge in providing exceptional clinical care and risk reduction services, while making major contributions to the global understanding of HIV pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment. Through the 25th Anniversary Symposium, we will review the current science and identify future research directions in collaboration with US and Kenyan researchers, trainees, Ministry of Health representatives, and the community.
