n DEDICATION n
This edition of Key Contacts is dedicated to HIV/AIDS researchers everywhere, especially to the scientists in Georgia whose new vaccines, behavioral interventions, and treatments contribute hope to the world of HIV.
Under the direction of James W. Curran MD, MPH, Carlos del Rio MD, and Eric Hunter PhD, Emory’s Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) facilitates the research of more than 250 faculty, research fellows, and others. CFAR scientists have made major discoveries in determining, at the molecular level, how HIV infection occurs between couples and from mothers to babies; used that knowledge to build experimental vaccines against AIDS, one of which is currently in Phase II trials (Harriet Robinson PhD); invented drug regimens that are used by more than 90% of people with HIV in the US (Raymond Schinazi PhD and Dennis Liotta PhD); and constructed highly effective behavioral interventions that have reduced transmission of HIV within couples in Africa by more than 87% (Susan Allen MD, MPH). The work done at CFAR’s ten research sites and labs, including those at the Morehouse School of Medicine HIV/AIDS Research Group (basic science), the Emory Vaccine Center (basic science), the Hope Clinic (translational science), the Rollins School of Public Health (behavioral science), and the Grady Infectious Disease Program, Emory Midtown Hospital, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (clinical science), has a single goal: to bring cutting-edge science to bear as a powerful tool in reducing the worldwide suffering caused by the AIDS pandemic.
The AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta (ARCA), founded in 1988, also provides a platform for clinical drug and vaccine trials and prevention research through a network of more than 50 primary care physicians and five publicly funded health clinics in metro Atlanta. ARCA also offers community services such as free STD/HIV testing and risk-reduction counseling. Principal Investigator Melanie Thompson MD and the ARCA team have participated in more than 300 clinical trials and contributed research data leading to FDA approval of more than 27 individual and combination drugs. ARCA is one of three sites in the country funded by CDC to design and conduct the first US safety study of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir. SEATEC, and ARCA, extend thanks to the more than 20,000 Atlantans who have participated in its research programs and prevention services.
At the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Decatur, veterans participate in research trials through the Infectious Disease Clinic, under the direction of David Rimland MD. This cohort of patients has been involved in longitudinal studies looking at trends in opportunistic infections, viral hepatitis, malignancies, and metabolic abnormalities. They have participated in sentinel studies including SMART, FRAM, ESPRIT, and OPTIMA. The center is one of eight VA Medical Centers in the large, longitudinal Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS).
Decades of rigorous research have reduced the chances that new infections will occur, improved the health of persons with HIV, and explored ways in which HIV can be eradicated from an infected person’s immune system. While a cure remains elusive, our scientific community’s unstinting search inspires us all.
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