WG3: HIV, Co-infections and Co-morbidities

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Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically altered the prognosis of HIV infection and improved the survival of patients, infected patients continue to suffer significant morbidity and mortality from TB, CVD, malignancies, chronic kidney, and neurocognitive disease. These issues highlight the fact that while ART is very effective at restricting viral replication, there is a pressing need to address the determinants of comorbidities, which are the critical issues in HIV research and the focus of the Working Group 3 agenda. The group has a remit to define scientific priorities in this area for the CFAR and then to facilitate advances in the field by promoting synergistic interactions and collaborative research proposals and advancing the careers of junior investigators. Working Group has 23 members, comprising a critical mass of clinical and translational researchers who have collectively published 423 peer-reviewed publications during the last funding cycle. The primary goal of WG3 is to promote interactions and collaborations between researchers at CWRU and beyond to unravel the biology co-morbid conditions in HIV infections. WG3 promotes this scientific agenda through a variety of activities including (1) facilitating collaborative research by sponsoring seminars, journal clubs, research-in-progress meetings, and targeted meetings to discuss HIV initiatives, (2) forming and participating in national research consortia to promote and disseminate HIV research, and (3) mentoring and promoting the careers of junior investigators. Through these activities, WG3 will promote the following Specific Aims:  To develop new interactions among investigators from various disciplines. Key scientific priorities are:  To stimulate the formation of multi-investigator projects. WG2 success will be defined by the advancement of new collaborative projects, including:  To stimulate cross-fertilization between working groups. In summary, WG3 is focused on promoting key scientific priorities for HIV research in the ART era. This agenda will be supported through targeted activities designed to foster collaborations within the CWRU/UH CFAR, develop supporting resources in the CFAR Cores, especially the Clinical Core D and Uganda Laboratory Core C. The WG3 has placed emphasis on engaging new investigators and has an excellent record of supporting the work of Mentored Scientist Pilot Grant and Catalytic Fund awardees.