URBAN ARCH Newsletter
URBAN ARCH Newsletter
Volume 4, Issue 4
October 2017 – December 2017
Check out the current issue of URBAN ARCH News, the quarterly newsletter bringing you news based on the latest URBAN ARCH and related research.
URBAN ARCH Grows with Several New NIAAA-funded Studies
This issue of the URBAN ARCH quarterly newsletter will focus on 5 new grants awarded by the NIAAA this fall. Click here to learn more.
- Congratulations to Dr. Karsten Lunze and his wife, Dr. Fatima Lunze, for receiving the Victor Sidel and Barry Levy Award for Peace from the American Public Health Association (APHA) for establishing the NGO Health for the Caucasus, which works to strengthen health care for those directly and indirectly affected by violence in the Russian North Caucasus.
- Congratulations to Dr. Jeffrey Samet for receiving the American College of Physicians (ACP) Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award for his innovative work in the field of addiction medicine.
- Symposium accepted at College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) 2018: “Polysubstance use is the norm: Time for research and practice to recognize and address it.” Dr. Richard Saitz is organizing the symposium.
- Abstract accepted for a poster presentation at the 2018 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI): Zinc to reduce mortality and CVD risk and HIV disease progression in Russian drinkers (Freiberg et al.)
- Free full text: Lifetime marijuana and alcohol use, and cognitive dysfunction in people with human immunodeficiency virus infection (Lorkiewicz) named as one of the top 10 high scoring articles in Taylor & Francis Altmetric report in December.
In this issue, we interview Sara Lodi, PhD, a Biostatistician from the BDM Core and Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health.
Click on the buttons to see what the URBAN ARCH Cohorts and Cores have been working on.
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Save the Date for the 2018 URBAN ARCH Annual Meeting
The seventh URBAN ARCH Annual Meeting will be held on March 27-28, 2018. Contact carly.bridden@bmc.org for more details.
- Asiimwe SB, Fatch R, Patts G, Winter M, Lloyd-Travaglini C, Emenyonu N, Muyindike W, Kekibiina A, Blokhina E, Gnatienko N, Krupitsky E, Cheng DM, Samet JH, Hahn JA. Alcohol types and HIV disease progression among HIV-infection drinkers not yet on antiretroviral therapy in Russia and Uganda. AIDS Behav. 2017;21(Suppl 2):204-215. PMCID: PMC5660666.
- Idrisov B, Lunze K, Cheng DM, Blokhina E, Gnatienko N, Quinn E, Bridden C, Walley AY, Bryant KJ, Lioznov D, Krupitsky E, Samet JH. Role of substance use in HIV care cascade outcomes among people who inject drugs in Russia. Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2017;12(1):30. PMCID: PMC5713116.
- Kiriazova T, Lunze K, Raj A, Bushara N, Blokhina E, Krupitsky E, Bridden C, Lioznov D, Samet JH, Gifford A. “It is easier for me to shoot up”: stigma, abandonment, and why HIV-positive drug users in Russia fail to link to HIV care. AIDS Care. 2017;29(5):559-563. PMCID: PMC5350043
- Lasser K, Lunze K, Cheng DM, Blokhina E, Walley A, Tindle H, Quinn E, Gnatienko N, Krupitsky E, Samet JH. Depression and smoking characteristics among HIV-positive smokers in Russia: a cross-sectional study. PLOS One. 2017. In press.
- Lorkiewicz SA, Ventura AS, Heeren TC, Winter MR, Walley AY, Sullivan M, Samet JH, Saitz R. Lifetime marijuana and alcohol use, and cognitive dysfunction in people with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Subst Abus. 2017. [Epub ahead of print].
- Walley AY, Cheng DM, Quinn EK, Blokhina E, Gnatienko K, Chaisson CE, Krupitsky E, Coffin PO, Samet JH. Fatal and non-fatal overdose after narcology hospital discharge among Russians living with HIV/AIDS who inject drugs. Int J Drug Policy. 2017;39:114-20. PMCID: PMC5191979
- West BS, Cheng DM, Toussova O, Blokhina E, Gnatienko N, Liu K, Samet JH, Raj A. Contraceptive use among HIV-infected females with history of injection drug use in St. Petersburg, Russia. AIDS Behav. 2017. [Epub ahead of print].
Article Spotlight
This section highlights and provides brief summaries of URBAN ARCH research and their clinical significance.
Novel Text Messaging Application for Clinical Trial Adherence in Russia
Sending text message reminders to study participants has been shown to improve clinical trial adherence in the United States and elsewhere, but these systems are not easily translated to international settings. URBAN ARCH researchers, led by the BDM Core, developed SMSMessenger, an automated Android application that uses a US server to send medication reminders to study participants. SMSMessenger was developed for the URBAN ARCH ZINC RCT, which was conducted in St. Petersburg, Russia. With a few clicks by the study coordinator in Russia, pre-specified text messages are automatically sent to participants from the US server. No sensitive data are stored on the phone, as outgoing messages are sent through the application and not by messaging features on the phone itself. Costs and setup are minimal. The only local requirements are an Android phone and a data plan.
Conclusions: The SMSMessenger technology could be modified to be applied around the world, in any language, script, or alphabet, and for many different purposes. The novel application of this existing low-cost technology can improve the usefulness of text messaging in advancing the goals of international clinical trials.
Reference: Forman LS, Patts GJ, Coleman S, Blokhina E, Lu J, Yaroslavtseva T, Gnatienko N, Krupitsky E, Samet JH, Chaisson CE. Use of an android phone application for automated text messages in international settings: a case study in an HIV clinical trial in St. Petersburg, Russia. Clin Trials. 2017. [Epub ahead of print].
Article Spotlight summary by URBAN ARCH editor Katherine Calver, PhD
Selected NIH Notices and Funding Opportunities
- Accelerating the Pace of Drug Abuse Research Using Existing Data (R01) (PAR-16-234)
National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism/National Institute of Drug Abuse
Application Due Date: Standard dates - Alcohol Research Resource Awards (R24) (PAR-17-170)
National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Application Due Date: Standard dates - Optimization of Monoclonal Antibodies for Eliminating the HIV Reservoir (R01) (PAR-16-115)
National Institute of Allergy and Infection Disease/National Institute of Mental Health
Application Due Date: January 9, 2018
Click here for more funding announcements related to HIV and alcohol research.
Please email Carly Bridden if you will be attending any these meetings, so we can connect you with our investigators.
- Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI): March 4-7, 2018; Boston, MA. URBAN ARCH reception to be held on March 6th.
- Gordon Research Conference on Alcohol and the Nervous System: March 4-9, 2018; Galveston, TX.
- Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA): June 16-20, 2018. San Diego, CA.
Abstract submission deadline: January 5, 2018. - International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference: July 23-27, 2018; Amsterdam, Netherlands. Abstract submission deadline: Febuary 5, 2018.
Click here for more events and conferences.
This issue of the newsletter concludes our fourth year of publication. Thanks for a great year and…