Cancer Control Research
5U01AI035004-08
Anastos, Kathryn M.
NATURAL HISTORY OF HIV INFECTION IN WOMEN
AbstractThe NYC/Bronx WIHS Consortium represents the highly successful
collaboration of clinical and basic scientists at six New York
institutions: Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and Beth Israel Medical Centers;
Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center, The Wadsworth Research Center of the New
York State Department of Health, and the Albert Einstein College of
Medicine. The NYC/Bronx WIHS Consortium is one of six sites nationally
conducting the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), an observational
cohort study of 2055 HIV infected and 569 HIV uninfected women,
investigating the natural history of HIV infection in women, including
clinical, virologic, immunologic, behavioral and health care utilization
parameters. The NYC/Bronx consortium has the largest number of retained
WIHS subjects in active follow-up, and contributes approximately 24
percent of the core visit data. The NYC/Bronx consortium has made
substantial contributions to the development of the WIHS scientific
agenda, particularly in the areas of quantitative and molecular virology
and in general disease progression, and to the development and support
of the national WIHS administrative infrastructure. We seek to continue
the core scientific activities of WIHS including delineating the
relationship of HIV disease progression and mortality to viral burden,
absolute and proportional CD4 cell counts, coinfections and behavioral
parameters including compliance with therapy. Continuing investigation
will also include determining the gynecologic manifestations of HIV
disease, including the expression and sequelae of genital infection with
human papillomavirus both at baseline and in the presence of highly
active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). In addition we will continue our
substudy of "Complete HIV-1 RNA sequences in women: CVL and plasma"
through Dr. Barbara Weiser at the Wadsworth Center, the Research
Laboratory of the New York State Department of Health. We also seek to
expand both the local (NYC) and national WIHS scientific agenda to
include determining the impact of HAART on disease progression, viral
burden, HIV related morbidity and survival, as well as additional
virologic, immunologic and behavioral investigations.
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