HIV Center News Briefs

Grand Rounds podcasts now available online

Since its founding in 1987, the HIV Center has been sponsoring Thursday morning Grand Rounds. Featuring presentations of cutting-edge research by HIV Center investigators, as well as by invited guests from around the world, Grand Rounds provide unique insights into crucial research findings across a spectrum of HIV-related issues concerning treatment, prevention, mental health, research methodology, community collaboration, ethics, policy and many other areas. Those who are interested in listening to Grand Rounds but are unable to attend in person now have a new option. Beginning in February 2008, presentations have been regularly audio recorded. These recordings are available on the HIV Center website via podcast, along with any slides used by the speakers. Podcasts can be accessed by clicking on "Grand Rounds" on the HIV Center homepage or by clicking here. The Grand Rounds page can also be used to sign-up for an automated feed of Grand Rounds podcasts.

Work by Theo Sandfort highlighted by media, award

ABC News and the Reuters News Service were among the media outlets to highlight the findings from a study led by HIV Center investigator Theo Sandfort, Ph.D. The study of sexual behavior of young women and men in the U.S., entitled "Long-term health consequences of timing of sexual initiation: Results from a national U.S. study," was published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Reuters summarized the research findings as indicating that "people who start having sex at a younger or older than average age spear to be at greater risk of developing sexual health problems." Problems facing early initiators (age 14 or younger) included certain risk factors for STDs, such as high number of sexual partners, and a history of having sex under the influence of alcohol. The more novel finding was that older initiators (age 22 or older) also were more likely to experience difficulty maintaining an erection and reaching orgasm.

The article noted "Although our findings support an association between early initiation and long-term STD risk, they also suggest a more complicated picture of sexual functioning. Delaying sexual activity may "create health risks by impeding development of the emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal skills that are crucial to satisfactory sexual functioning and general well-being." The paper was based on a pilot study, funded by the HIV Center, on the theme of "Exploring pathways to adult sexual adjustment: Secondary data analysis." In May 2008, Dr. Sandfort's overall body of scientific work was also honored by the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, which presented him with its "John Money Award," named for a pioneering scholar of sexuality. The award citation notes that: "Over the span of several decades, Dr. Sandfort has significantly furthered our understanding of human sexuality through numerous basic and applied empirical investigations in the field of sexuality and health both nationally and internationally. His groundbreaking work has explored the topics of sexual orientation, sexual behavior and attitudes, determinants of health behavior, mass media and other interventions, and the epidemiology of mental disorders."

HIV Research Centers Consortium Conference

The New York HIV Research Centers Consortium sponsored its fourth annual Scientific Conference on the theme of "Living with HIV: Challenges for Interdisciplinary Research." Two morning panels emphasized the theme of "Behavioral and Medical Perspectives on HIV Infection" and "Access to HIV Care." The afternoon panels focused on "Adherence and Continuity of HIV Medical Care: Special Populations" and "Trends in Funding Research on HIV-Positive Populations." Conference presenters included academics and practitioners from a variety of research centers, community-based organizations, and medical facilities. For abstracts of all the presentations, click here. The Consortium is a collaborative project of 24 HIV research centers designed to facilitate inter-institutional, multi-disciplinary collaborations by scientists affiliated with HIV research centers in the Greater New York area. It is led by HIV Center Director Anke Ehrhardt, Ph.D., Sherry Deren, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research at NDRI. Inc., and Jack DeHovitz, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the HIV Center for Women and Children at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Click here to learn more about the Consortium.

Ellen Stover of NIMH Speaks at NYSPI

Ellen Stover of NIMH with HIV Center Director Anke Ehrhardt

Ellen Stover, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Mental Disorders, Behavioral Research, and AIDS at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) presented at Adult Psychiatry Grand Rounds at the New York State Psychiatric Institute on Friday, December 13. Her presentation, entitled "Advocacy, Urgency and Set Asides: Halting an Epidemic Amid Stigma and Complacency," offered a historical overview of the NIMH Response to AIDS. Stover, a long-time programmatic leader in HIV research, has worked with the HIV Center since its inception.

Her presentation focused on three major periods in the history of AIDS as seen from the perspective of NIMH: 1981-1989, when researchers were groping for a basic understanding of the impact of the new disease; 1990-1997, when significant advances were made in mental health aspects of HIV infection; and the period 1998 to the present, which has focused on application and dissemination of knowledge.

New South Africa Grants

Two HIV Center investigators have been awarded grants from NIH to extend their US-based research into South Africa. Robert Remien, Ph.D. is principal investigator of the SMART Couples Study, a proven intervention that employs partner support to improve HIV-positive people's adherence to often complex and challenging HIV medication regimens. His new SMART-SA program will develop a multimedia intervention in South Africa that can be used by non-professional peer counselors to help patients understand the importance of following medication regimens as prescribed and maintain high levels of adherence with the assistance of spouses, friends, partners, or other people who are close to the patient.

Dr. Claude Ann Mellins was funded to provide a family-based intervention for perinatally infected children in South Africa. The Collaborative HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Projects (CHAMP) was originally developed by Dr. Mary McKay of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine for uninfected youths and subsequently adapted for perinatally HIV-infected youths in the US with a goal to prevent risk behavior and promote mental health (CHAMP+). The new study will adapt, refine, and pilot CHAMP+, examining the preliminary impact of CHAMP+ SA on family/social process variables that promote behavioral health outcomes among HIV-affected youth in South Africa.

World AIDS Day

HIV Center staff member Jan Baer (seated) with Fellows Jose Bauermeister (seated) and Kate Elkington at the outreach table

To mark World AIDS Day 2007, the HIV Center co-sponsored two outreach and information tables with the International Center for AIDS Treatment and Prevention Programs (ICAP). The tables, one in the New York State Psychiatric Institute and one in the Mailman School of Public Health, featured a wide variety of materials about HIV prevention and care, as well as about the work of the HIV Center and ICAP. World AIDS Day has been held on December 1 every year since 1988 to promote understanding of HIV/AIDS and support for those living with the virus. The HIV Center provides information and outreach each year to raise awareness about research efforts to combat the epidemic.

Emerging Leaders from South Africa are Trained at HIV Center

The first cohort of the MAC AIDS Fund Leadership Initiative

Twelve emerging leaders in HIV/AIDS prevention from South Africa arrived at the HIV Center on February 1 to begin an intensive HIV prevention training program as part of the M.A.C AIDS Fund Leadership Initiative (PI: Anke A. Ehrhardt, Ph.D.; Co-PI Thomas J. Coates, Ph.D.) The 12 leaders were identified through a nationwide selection process as being among South Africa's most promising innovators in HIV prevention. The Leadership Initiative is being co-sponsored by the UCLA Global Program in Health, which is directed by Dr. Coates.  It is generously funded by the M.A.C AIDS Fund, which was established by M.A.C Cosmetics in 1994 to support men, women, and children affected by HIV/AIDS globally. Leadership Initiative participants worked closely with HIV prevention experts in New York during February and March to develop targeted prevention programs which they will implement in South Africa throughout 2008. The second cohort of the Leadership Initiative will arrive at the HIV Center in October.

New Books by Center authors

Two investigators from the HIV Center's Ethics and Policy Core recently published new books. Ethics Core Director Robert Klitzman's When Doctors Become Patients offers a "systematic, integrated look" at what the experience is like for doctors who get sick, and what it can teach us about our current health care system and more broadly, the experience of becoming ill. Weaving together first-person accounts of the experience of doctors who fall ill and see the other side of the coin, the accounts reveal how dramatic this transformation can be-- a spiritual journey for some, a radical change of identity for others, and for some a new way of looking at the risks and benefits of treatment options."

Ethics Core Co-Director Ronald Bayer, Ph.D. is the co-author (with Gerald Oppenheimer) of Shattered Dreams?: An Oral History of the South African AIDS Epidemic. Based on interviews with doctors and nurses in both urban and rural areas, the book captures the experience of health care workers as they confronted indifference from colleagues, opposition from superiors, unexpected resistance from the country's political leaders, and material scarcity that was both the legacy of Apartheid and a consequence of the global power of the international pharmaceutical industry. Bayer is also a co-author (with Amy L. Fairchild and James Colgrove) of Searching Eyes: Privacy, the State, and Disease Surveillance in America. The first history of public health surveillance in the United States, this volume spans more than s century of conflict and controversy. The authors situate the tension inherent in public health surveillance in a broad social and political context to show how the changing meaning and significance of privacy have marked the politics and practice of surveillance.