Southern California Women's Interagency HIV Study Consortium

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): SPECIFIC AIMS of Southern California WIHS Consortium (SCWC) include: (1) To serve as a source for WIHS data and specimens; (2) To function in a manner which is critical to the success of WIHS-wide scientific studies; (3) To maintain the cohort, including active participation in approved sub-studies, as well as data and specimen collection; (4) To maintain relations with relevant community groups; (5) To provide epidemiologic expertise in study design and analysis to the local and national WIHS. BACKGROUND AND PRELIMINARY DATA: SCWC is comprised of 4 sites: the central site at USC School of Medicine/LAC-USC Medical Center; PROTOTYPES; Santa Barbara County Health Services; and Hawaii AIDS Research Consortia. Our cohort is the 3rd largest in the WIHS. Compliance with sub-studies and other requirements has been well above average throughout WIHS III. SCWC has contributed to the scientific mission of the study during WIHS III by (1) serving as first and/or last authors on 19 peer reviewed publications, with 4 additional manuscripts recently submitted; (2) providing leadership in the area of cardiovascular disease, with initial protocols for carotid intimal thickening studies, training of all WIHS sites, and on-going central reading of CITs performed by Drs. Howard Hodis and Wendy Mack at SCWC; (3) providing leadership in the area of Genomics, with development of a WIHS DNA Biorepository, housed at USC, under the direction of Dr. Leigh Pearce, with further expertise provided by Drs. David Van Den Berg, Daniel Stram, and David Conti. Dr. Pearce also serves as Chair of the national Genomics Working Group of WIHS, and has presented the first study from the WIHS in the area of genomics (CROI, 2/07). (4) providing leadership hematologic and malignant aspects of HIV in the cohort, with the expertise of Dr. AM Levine (PI); (5) providing leadership in the area of HCV and viral co-infections, under the direction of Drs. Andrea Kovacs, Marek Nowicki, and Maria Villacres. FUTURE PLANS: (1) We will continue as leaders in Genomics, implementing and maintaining the WIHS DNA Biorepository, while supporting internal and external investigators in WIHS-related genomics research; (2) We will provide expertise in immunology/ inflammation, to advance the scientific agenda of the WIHS; (3) We will provide expertise to the cardiovascular and HPV/cancer agendas, and in epidemiology (4) We will continue to maintain the SCWC cohort.