The Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) functions as a cooperative collaborative research entity to conduct behavioral, therapeutic, and community-based translational projects that seek to build on past adolescent research progress. It will provide basis to collaborate with other independent researchers and research networks to develop prophylactic, preventative, microbicide, and vaccine studies for HIV-infected and at-risk youth and young adults up to age 25 years. The focus will not be development of antiretroviral therapy trials, but will include these types of interventions as they apply or are in collaboration with clinical trials networks of NIH. Intervention studies targeting primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention at clinical sites and in surrounding communities will prevail, including pilot testing and larger trials. The University of Miami's Division of Adolescent Medicine, which currently is known as Site 12 in the existent ATN, has the capacity to continue its participation and the willingness to comply with cooperative research stipulations to develop and conduct appropriate studies. These include behavioral, therapeutic, and community protocols which are existent presently and which may be developed during the next ATN cycle.
With teenagers and young adults in the United States continuing to show increasing rates of HIV incidence, it is imperative to identify the high number of youth with HIV infection, and then link them effectively into appropriate care and treatment services. Providing opportunities for research participation via established specialty care sites potentially will address the unique behavioral, prevention, treatment, and long-term parameters associated with this age group.
