This proposal is a request for an ADAMHA RSDA level focused on psychoneuroimmunology at the University of California, Los Angeles. The RSDA would be sponsored by Herbert Weiner, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and John L. Fahey, M.D., Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Immunology and Disease (CIRID). My goals for the RSDA period are: 1) increased understanding of methodological and conceptual issues in immunology, with an emphasis on immunopathology related to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), 2) increased understanding of methodological and conceptual issues in biobehavioral sciences, 3) continued research on psychological processes as cofactors in the progression of HIV infection, and 4) to begin collaborative research on the biological pathways that underlay the relationship between psychological factors and changes in immunity. The primary objective of my research during the RSDA period will be to determine if particular psychological responses to exposure to two stressful experiences (the risk of developing AIDS and bereavement) are associated with immune processes prognostic for the development of AIDS, as well as a more rapid development of AIDS in HIV+ ran who participate in the Los Angeles Multi-Center AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). In addition, the project would begin to test two biological pathways that may link psychological processes to changes in immunity in HIV+ men: reactivation of latent viruses and altered susceptibility of lymphocytes to stimulation by lymphocytes and neuropeptides. My long-term goal is to direct interdisciplinary research on the relationships among psychological factors, immune processes and the progression of latent or chronic viral infections, particularly infection with HIV. I intend this research to move in the direction of isolating biological pathways that underlay relationships between particular dimensions of psychological response to threatening events and particular patterns of immunological response.
