NIH awards UAB School of Public Health $11.5M to research new methods of identifying youth with HIV

More than half of grant combo funded through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health has been awarded a total of $11.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to explore new ways to identify adolescents and young adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and link them to medical care.

The two new grants are for UAB's leadership and coordination of the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Intervention (ATN), a research network in 15 sites in the United States and Puerto Rico working to curb the epidemic through prevention, testing and treatment for youth ages 12 to 24. Both grants are from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); one grant is $4.67 million, and the other is $6.83 million funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

"HIV infects more than 30 million people globally, and projections show that at least one-half of all new infections each year are happening in youth under age 25. In America, one-third of all new HIV infections are in those under age 30," says Craig Wilson, M.D., a professor of epidemiology and pediatrics in the UAB School of Public Health and principal investigator of the ATN's scientific leadership group and coordination center.

"The ATN develops and tests promising behavioral and therapeutic strategies for HIV-infected youth, and prevention strategies for youth who engage in risky behavior," Wilson says. "These two new awards recognize our efforts, and build on the community-based infrastructure and coalitions already developed by the ATN in 13 cities.

"We need to figure out ways to work with young people to help youth protect themselves and get needed treatment."

Wilson and ATN are partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work within local health departments and community coalitions to increase HIV testing in youth. When HIV is detected early, treatments are more effective and help lower the probability of spreading the disease to others.

The new grants will focus on two initiatives:

• Linkage to HIV care for youth and expanded testing. Expansion is under way in city, county and statewide HIV testing programs in response to rising U.S infection rates. UAB, the ATN and other partners are developing and evaluating linkage-to-care strategies designed to answer many questions, such as how best to find undiagnosed HIV-positive groups and engage them in appropriate care.

• Expanded HIV testing in Latino communities. Among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. HIV epidemic are Latinos. A new project will build on the existing ATN network and community coalitions to expand HIV testing in at-risk Latinos, including exploring the unique cultural aspects of this community and its medical preferences. The overall goal is to find more effective AIDS prevention and treatment strategies, and remove barriers to HIV testing.