META HIV CVD: Research on Alcohol and HIV Through the Years

This year marked the fourth annual Research on Alcohol and HIV meeting, a satellite of the Research Society on Alcoholism’s annual meeting. The RSA Satellite Meeting has become a cornerstone activity of the Microbiome, Metabolites, and Alcohol in HIV to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease (META HIV CVD) Program Project Grant (PPG), serving as a key platform for advancing the science and collaboration needed to achieve our goals. This annual gathering directly supports the grant’s mission to understand how alcohol-associated gut dysbiosis contributes to cardiovascular disease risk among people living with HIV who drink alcohol. Beyond this, it brings together investigative teams from around the world whose work complements that of our META PPG in the fields of alcohol and HIV research.

Collaboration is what has fueled the growth of the RSA Satellite Meeting. What began as a smaller, lesser-known gathering has evolved into a thriving forum for scientific exchange and mentorship that people look forward to attending each year. Its development demonstrates the expansion and maturation of the 2nd Generation URBAN ARCH HIV/Alcohol P01s.

Our 2022 meeting in Orlando, Florida marked the beginning of this annual tradition and set the scientific tone that continues to guide our work. Centered on alcohol, gut dysbiosis, inflammation, and non-AIDS comorbidities among people with HIV, the meeting featured seven scientific presentations, with a welcome from Dr. Kendall Bryant and the NIAAA, as well as an overview by Dr. Matt Freiberg of the META Program Project Grant. Sessions ranged from mechanistic overviews to metabolite-focused analyses and culminated in a panel discussion highlighting translational implications.

Building on that foundation, our 2023 meeting in Bellevue, Washington highlighted the diversity of approaches within the field—from economic incentive trials in Africa to microbiome and metabolite research in North America—and featured a new mentoring component: one-on-one sessions for trainees and early-stage investigators, organized by the International URBAN ARCH Center Administrative Core.

By 2024 in Minneapolis, the scope and structure of the meeting continued to expand. The program incorporated thematic scientific sessions aligned with the NIH HIV strategic plan. New presentations explored topics such as GLP-1 receptor agonists as potential treatments for alcohol use disorder, aging-related neuroimaging markers, and scalable interventions to improve PrEP and HIV treatment outcomes. The addition of a dedicated poster session and continued emphasis on mentorship reflected our growing community and commitment to training.

This year, the 2025 meeting in New Orleans further demonstrated the momentum of our collaborative network. We continued the popular mentoring and poster sessions as well as a more comprehensive oral program. Research addressing cardiovascular risk, tuberculosis prevention, metabolic health, mental health, implementation science, and policy implications highlighted the interdisciplinary strength of our partnerships.

Across all four years, several themes have remained central to our progress:

  • Integration of biological, clinical, and behavioral science
  • National and international participation and collaboration
  • Increasing emphasis on implementation and real-world impact
  • Sustained commitment to mentoring the next generation of investigators

Most importantly, these meetings have served as catalysts for new research partnerships, grants, and publications, demonstrating the power of bringing together diverse expertise. As we look ahead, the continued growth of this meeting is especially meaningful in light of the major new award supporting our collaborative work: the Southeast Translational Alcohol and HIV Research (STAHR) Center. This P60 center builds directly upon the scientific momentum, partnerships, and infrastructure strengthened through our annual RSA Satellite Meeting. The STAHR Center will lead three interrelated projects focused on alcohol, gut dysbiosis and its derived metabolites, GLP-1 biology, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease risk among people with HIV, leveraging both clinical trials and observational cohorts. Importantly, several of these efforts are closely linked to the ongoing META HIV CVD PPG, with shared platforms for metagenomics and metabolomics, coordinated cores, and cross-project validation. The collaborative relationships, trainee development, and scientific exchange fostered through the RSA Satellite Meeting are critical to the success of the STAHR Center.

Thanks to the URBAN ARCH community for ongoing contributions and support and for helping this meeting grow into what it is today. Collaboration and engagement will play a central role in advancing this next phase of transformative research and improving health outcomes for the communities we serve.

P60 STAHR Center Kickoff Meeting

Written by Asri Mumpuni, MPH