The AVANÇO Research Consortium: A Mozambique/Brazil/Texas Alliance to advance novel and affordable technologies for the prevention and diagnosis of cervical cancer in women living with HIV

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ABSTRACT The overall vision of the AVANÇO Research Consortium is to establish sustainable infrastructure to develop research programs focused on HIV-associated malignancies in Brazil and Mozambique. The research theme chosen for this U54 HIV-Associated Malignancy Research Center (HAMRC) is to develop novel, low-cost and technologically feasible approaches for cervical cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment in women living with HIV (WLWH) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This HAMRC will be a collaboration between institutions in the US, Mozambique and Brazil and includes investigators with expertise in HIV/AIDS, Cervical Cancer, Bioengineering, Pathology, Epidemiology and Behavioral Science. The investigators have several ongoing scientific and clinical collaborations which include projects across all three countries. Our proposal addresses the NIH priority: To address HIV-associated comorbidities, coinfections and complications, which includes Malignancies as a category. HIV infection is a known risk factor for cervical cancer, with WLWH having an approximate 6-fold increased risk of developing cervical cancer. The overall goals of the AVANÇO Research Consortium include: 1) Establish sustainable research infrastructure to perform multi-institutional research studies related to HIV-associated malignancies across institutions in the US, Brazil and Mozambique. We will build a comprehensive research program focused on identifying novel, low-cost and technologically feasible approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cervical cancer in WLWH in LMICs. 2) Conduct two Research Projects that advance the development of promising low-cost technologies focused on the diagnoses of high-grade cervical dysplasia and invasive cervical cancer among WLWH. 3) Facilitate and enhance the professional development of junior investigators to conduct HIV- associated malignancy research in Mozambique and Brazil. Through our Developmental Core and Shared Resource Core, we will build research capacity and collaboration through formal research training courses, pilot project funding, and implementation of a Project ECHO® program for research capacity building focused on mentoring and supporting early-career investigators.