Core and Cohort Updates
Admin Core
Pictured above (l-r): Natalia Gnatienko, Tali Schiller, & Jeffrey Samet; Julia Canfield
This past month, the Admin Core bade farewell to our project coordinator, Tali Schiller. We wish her the best of luck! We are pleased to welcome a new project coordinator, Julia Canfield, to the team. She will assist in coordinating the activities of the Admin Core.
Since the start of the new year, the Admin Core has been preparing for the URBAN ARCH Annual Meeting on April 28th and 29th, 2015. The 2015 annual meeting will showcase the progress of the consortium, highlight cross-cohort analyses in progress and advance discussion and planning for the upcoming grant renewal. In addition, the Admin Core is working with the BDM Core, the URBAN ARCH Cohorts, as well as other CHAART consortia to coordinate the preparation of the RSA satellite meeting. This meeting aims to bring together all CHAART investigators to generate ideas for and encourage future scientific collaboration.
Amidst the preparation for meetings, the Admin Core assisted in the submission of abstracts to the 2015 Research Society for Alcoholism (RSA) Meeting and the 2015 College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Annual Meeting. Nine abstracts were submitted to RSA and five were submitted to CPDD. Dr. Samet and Dr. Bryant organized a symposium, “Medical consequences of alcohol use among people living with HIV”, which was accepted by RSA and will be presented on Monday, June 22nd at 9:30 AM in San Antonio, TX. The symposium is a true cross-consortia collaboration, as it will feature presenters from multiple consortia: URBAN ARCH, VACS and SHARC.
The Admin Core is especially happy to report that recruitment goals for each of the cohorts has been met!
BDM Core
The BDM is actively working on multiple analyses for each of the cohorts. We’re also excited to welcome Mike Tobias, BUSPH alum, who has joined the core to help with various data management activities.
Pictured left: Mike Tobias
Uganda Cohort
As of February 1st 2015, Uganda ARCH has concluded enrollment with a total of 484 subjects. Uganda ARCH has conducted 347 6-month assessments, 225 12-month assessments, 130 18-month assessments, 63 24-month assessments, 17 30-month assessments, and 2 36-month assessments. Follow up rates continue to be exceptionally high and the study is running smoothly.
Dr. Judy Hahn will give a presentation, “Unhealthy alcohol use and HIV disease progression in two art naïve Ugandan cohorts” as part of the symposium, “Medical consequences of alcohol use among people living with HIV” for the 2015 RSA Meeting on Monday, June 22nd at 9:30 AM in San Antonio, TX.
Dr. Sarah Woolf-King’s abstract, “Alcohol and condom use at a most recent sexual event among HIV-infected Ugandan adults”, was also accepted as part of a symposium for the 2015 RSA Meeting, “Alcohol use and sex risk: treatment outcomes and international perspectives”. She will be presenting on Wednesday, June 24th at 9:30 AM.
Pictured right: Dr. Hahn & Dr. Samet with ADEPT team in Uganda
Russia Cohort and ZINC RCT
As of February 1st 2015, Russia ARCH has enrolled 304 participants and conducted 166 six-month assessments, 89 twelve-month assessments, 54 eighteen-month assessments and 22 twenty four-month assessments. As of February 1st 2015, ZINC enrolled and randomized 195 of 250 participants and conducted 69 six-month assessments and 20 twelve-month assessments.
Although in October 2014, the team successfully completed enrollment of the initially planned 250 participants into Russia ARCH, recruitment is still ongoing, as participants are continuing to co-enroll into Russia ARCH and ZINC. ARCH and ZINC recruitment is anticipated to be completed in the coming months.
The team is actively pursuing data analyses, abstract submissions and manuscript preparation. Three abstracts were submitted to the 38th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society for Alcoholism and a number of manuscripts are in progress. The team is also working on conducting their first batch of biomarker (sCD-14, D-dimer, IL-6) testing on stored Russia ARCH samples.
We welcomed a new project coordinator, Sally Bendiks, MPH, to the study team in January.
Pictured above: Sally Bendiks
Boston Cohort
In November 2014, the Boston ARCH team successfully completed recruitment, enrolling 250 participants into the cohort. As of February 1st 2015, Boston ARCH has completed 211 six-month follow-up assessments, 140 12-month follow-up assessments, 98 18-month follow-up assessments and 11 24-four month follow-up assessments. 30-month follow-up assessments are scheduled to begin in June 2015.
The Boston ARCH team and the BDM Core have been working with a number of junior faculty, fellows and graduate students to support new analyses of Boston ARCH data. The team submitted multiple abstracts to the annual meeting of the CPDD and RSA. In December 2014, Dr. Seonaid Nolan presented an analysis of Boston ARCH data at the Research Addiction Medicine Scholars (RAMS) Program in Boston, MA: “Substance dependence criteria, not substance use, associated with HIV virologic control.” Nicholas Mauricio, a medical student who has been working with the Boston ARCH team since May 2014, took a first look at polypharmacy in the Boston Cohort; findings will be displayed in a poster “Describing polypharmacy in a cohort of HIV-infected adults with substance dependence,” presented at the Boston University Annual Medical Student Summer Research Symposium. The team’s abstract, “Lifetime alcohol consumption and bone mineral density in HIV-infected adults with substance dependence” was accepted for an oral presentation at the 2015 Annual RSA Meeting as part of the symposium, “Medical Consequences of Alcohol Use Among People Living With HIV,” which will be chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Samet and Dr. Kendall Bryant.
Lastly, in collaboration with the BDM Core and Dr. Theresa Kim, an internist at BU with expertise in both bone and addiction medicine, the team submitted an application to NIAAA for a supplement to support testing of stored serum samples for bone turnover markers in the Boston cohort.
Pictured right (l-r): Lucero Leon-Chi, Kate Haworth, Margo Godersky, & Alicia Ventura