The NYU Medical Center Lower New York Consortium for Families with HIV proposes to establish a Clinical Science Group as a component of the Adolescent AIDS Network, which NIH is developing to plan and conduct research on the medical, biobehavioral, and psychological aspects of HIV/AIDS, including access to care and its utilization in adolescents infected with HIV through sexual and drug taking behaviors. The Consortium Clinical Science Group will provide health care services to HIV-infected adolescents, and, as a Track B site, is submitting a plan to provide comprehensive adolescent HIV-related health care and support services in support of clinical research. Comprehensive services will be provided at two hospital sites (Bellevue Hospital Adolescent HIV/AIDS Clinic and St. Vincents, Manhattan Adult and Pediatric AIDS Program) and primary care services with HRSA augmentation will be provided at three community-based service agencies (CASES, University Settlement Houses: Streetreach, and the Community Family Planning Council Mobile Van Outreach Program). Primary care services will be provided by a Health Care Team consisting of a physician, nurse practitioner, and health educator. Through these services, 500 teens will be identified as prospective Network participants and 20 HIV positive and 10 HIV negative adolescents enrolled. An examination of the characteristics (demographic, cognitive, sociological, and psychological) of teens and the services offered will enable the Consortium to determine which methodological approaches are most successful at recruiting, retaining, and explaining the behavior of youth participating in a comprehensive program of HIV-related services. The Clinical Science Group will also establish an infrastructure to support the conduct of Network studies and will participate with the Basic Science Group and the Data Operation Center in meetings and protocol development, implementation, analysis, reporting and evaluation design and implementation.
