Highlights
Strengthening International Ties11/7/07Charles van der Horst, MD, Charles Chasela, MPH, and William Powderly, MD, got together recently. Mr. Chasela runs the BAN study in Malawi (van der Horst, PI) and is pursuing a doctoral degree in epidemiology at University College Dublin (UCD), partially funded by UNC. Dr. Powderly is the Dean of the College of Medicine at UCD. The UNC CFID is forging closer links with UCD, an Irish foundation called the Rose Project, the Irish Government, and our Malawi program. | |
New R24 Grant with Chinese Researchers10/12/07This week, UNC and Chinese collaborators met in Chapel Hill to launch their $2 million NIH, National Institute of Child Health and Development grant, "Partnership for Social Science Research on HIV/AIDS in China." This is one of nine such awards, the only one for China. Gail Henderson, Ph.D., professor of social medicine in the School of Medicine, is the principal investigator, co-investigators are from the Schools of Public Health, Medicine, Dentistry, Journalism and Mass Communication. Collaborators include Peoples University (Beijing), the Nanjing National Center for STD Prevention and Control, the China CDC National Center for AIDS Prevention and Control, and China scholars at the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin. The Award is part of the new UNC Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases. Below, from left to right: Dr. Chen (Epidemiology, Nanjing STD Center), Dr. Myron Cohen (Infectious Diseases, UNC), Dr. Gail Henderson (Social Medicine, UNC), Prof. Zhuang (Anthropology, People University), Prof. Pan (Sociology, Peoples University)  | |
World AIDS Day Press Release12/1/2006University of North Carolina School of Medicine is pleased to announce that it has received HIV related clinical research grants from the National Institutes of Health totaling 22 million dollars over seven years beginning January 1, 2007. These awards, called Clinical Trials Units, continue to fund the work that UNC is doing now in North Carolina and Malawi. UNC Chapel Hill is participating in three awards. Here in North Carolina, Joseph J. Eron, MD, Professor of Medicine at UNC, has received $2.23 million for first year for HIV research at three sites. Timothy Lane, MD, Professor of Medicine at UNC and Attending Physician at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro will direct one of the clinical sites. David A. Wohl, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at UNC will direct the site at Chapel Hill and Kristine Patterson, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at UNC will direct an HIV Vaccine Unit at Wake County Health Department in Raleigh. In Africa in the country of Malawi, Myron Cohen, MD, Professor of Medicine at UNC in partnership with School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the Malawi College of Medicine has received over a million dollars for the first year for our work in Lilongwe focusing on HIV prevention, adult treatment, mother and child prevention and care, and microbicides. Finally, Charles van der Horst MD, Professor of Medicine at UNC will continue as a mentor to the new Clinical Trials Unit at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa which will conduct adult clinical trials at Helen Josephs Hospital and pediatric trials at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto led by Ian Sanne, MD. Their award amount is $1.2 million for the first year. Dr. Eron said, “With over 40 million people infected with HIV globally it is vital to aggressively continue looking for better ways to treat infected patients and prevent new infections. We are gratified that our peers felt UNC should continue this work in Malawi and North Carolina. This is a validation of our work in finding new treatments for the citizens of North Carolina suffering from this dread disease.” For more information: Joseph J. Eron, MD: jeron@med.unc.edu Myron Cohen, MD: mscohen@med.unc.edu Ian Sanne, MD: isanne@witshealth.co.za Charles van der Horst, MD: cvdh@med.unc.edu |
Response to HIV in Africa11/30/2006A large number of UNC investigators are devoted to international work in HIV/AIDS. Center for Infectious Diseases and CFAR investigators have conducted a series of studies to better understand (and prevent) vertical transmission of HIV. Dr. van der Horst is directing the Breast Milk and Nutrition (BAN) Study, a longitudinal CDC project designed to prevent vertical transmission and post-partum breast milk transmission, The concentration and virology of HIV and ART in breast milk are being examined. Malawi served as a key site for HPTN 024, a study designed to determine whether treatment of chorioamnionitis could offset HIV transmission. Dr. Meshnick has completed a series of studies to examine the effects of malaria and STDs on vertical transmission. |