"Plasma and cellular immune biomarkers of Kaposi's sarcoma in HIV-1 suppressed patients"

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Despite the significant scientific knowledge generated and the notable decline in HIV incidence and deaths as a result of HIV biomedical research in the developed countries, the output for biomedical research is highly limited in SSA where the burden of HIV/AIDS is disproportionally borne. For example, in Tanzania, a developing country in East Africa with limited health care resources, 5.1% of adults are affected by the HIV epidemic, and these rates are even higher among vulnerable populations (15 - 26% of female sex workers), HIV biomedical productivity is very low. Overall, the geography of basic HIV publications from Africa has shown a limited contribution of Africa to global research production. Health research production that originates from Africa by African researchers is very limited and mainly focused on clinical patient care with minimal emphasis on biomedical sciences. The lack of tertiary-level research training opportunities, particularly in HIV research has resulted in a low number of well-trained HIV researchers, and low research productivity with significant gender inequality. At the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania, the biggest medical university in the country, there are ~80 HIV researchers and only ~12% are female HIV researchers. To address this gap of well-trained HIV biomedical researchers, we are proposing to recruit and mentor an early-stage female investigator (Dr. Lydia) on the basics of HIV basic research by conducting a project on molecular HIV-associated Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) diagnosis. The overall objective is to train and mentor this early-stage investigator on the early detection and diagnosis of HIV-associated KS among PLWH. We hypothesize that training an early-stage female investigator on HIV basic sciences, particularly on molecular diagnosis of HIV-associated KS would stimulate the involvement of female researchers in HIV research and improve HIV biomedical research output leading to better health outcomes for PLWH in SSA. To support this training, we will utilize the ongoing parent K43 study infrastructure to integrate, and train the early-stage investigator on how to a) develop and conduct KS educational sensitization of clinicians, PLWH, and community healthcare workers at HIV clinics, and b) perform KS tumor biopsies and basic histopathology for KS diagnosis, c) perform KSHV LANA IHC and design PCR experiments to detect KSHV DNA in the processed samples to supplement standard of care KS diagnosis. The proposed training is significant as it provides a unique opportunity for a new investigator to acquire new skills in HIV biomedical sciences research as a stepping-stone to embark on HIV/AIDS research career. The study will strengthen the HIV basic and clinical research team at ORCI, and foster gender inclusion and diversity in research. The success of this trainee will motivate other female new investigators to pursue careers in HIV biomedical research. Overall, these efforts will improve the early detection and diagnosis of KS leading to better health outcomes for PLWH in SSA.