URBAN ARCH Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 3
July 2015 – September 2015
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 at RSA 2015!
With the URBAN ARCH cohorts completing enrollment this year, the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) Scientific Meeting offered the opportunity to share initial study findings. Several URBAN ARCH investigators and staff from all of the cohorts and cores attended and presented posters and in oral sessions at RSA 2015 in San Antonio, Texas. An URBAN ARCH highlight of RSA was the symposium “Medical Consequences of Alcohol Use among People Living with HIV,” which was chaired by Drs. Samet and Bryant, and included Drs. Hahn (Uganda ARCH), Saitz (Boston ARCH), Justice (VACS), and Porges (SHARC). The symposium was well attended and well received with lively discussion throughout.
In conjunction with RSA, a satellite meeting brought together investigators from URBAN ARCH, Brown ARCH, Hopkins ARCH, VACS, and SHARC to encourage and generate ideas for scientific collaboration in HIV/alcohol research. The meeting began with opening remarks from Dr. Kendall Bryant, Director of HIV/AIDS Research at NIAAA followed by presentations from the consortia highlighting progress to date. The all-day meeting allowed CHAART investigators to discuss priority areas of HIV/alcohol research and next steps. Working groups were formed around several areas, such as women’s issues, digital and mobile health, provider readiness to prescribe pharmacotherapy, and non-treatment seeking individuals.
Overall, RSA provided URBAN ARCH investigators, trainees, and staff with a valuable opportunity to share study findings, engage in cross-consortia collaborations, and network with other professionals in the field of alcohol and HIV research.
- Abstract accepted at Society for Leukocyte Biology: Is liver injury a mechanism of accelerated immune dysfunction among HIV infected Russian recent heavy drinkers? (So-Armah et al.)
- New Grant: Congratulations to Dr. Bulat Idrisov from Russia on receiving a NIDA INVEST Fellowship to work under the mentorship of Dr. Jeffrey Samet in Boston.
In this issue, we interview Jeffrey H. Samet, MD, MA, MPH, the URBAN ARCH Consortium’s Principal Investigator and Professor of Medicine and Public Heath at the Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health.
Click on the buttons to see what the URBAN ARCH Cohorts and Cores have been working on.
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by Julia Canfield, Margo Godersky, Kate Haworth, Laura Vercammen, Alicia Ventura, Natalia Gnatienko, and Tatiana Yaroslavtseva for the Boston and Russia ARCH teams
Conducting an Alcohol Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB)
A guide to estimating past alcohol consumption among your study participants.
- Asiimwe SB, Fatch R, Emenyonu NI, Muyindike WR, Kekibiina A, Santos GM, Greenfield TK, Hahn JA.Comparison of Traditional and Novel Self-Report Measures to an Alcohol Biomarker for Quantifying Alcohol Consumption Among HIV-Infected Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2015 Aug;39(8):1518-27. PMCID: PMC4515166.
- Woolf-King SE, Fatch R, Emenyonu N, Muyindike W, Carrico AW, Maisto SA, Hahn JA. Development and Validation of the East Africa Alcohol Expectancy Scale (AFEXS). J Stud Alcohol Drugs.2015;76(2):336-343.
Selected Funding Opportunities
- Limited Competition: Consortia for HIV/AIDS and Alcohol-Related Research Trials (CHAART) Project (Collaborative U01) (RFA-AA-16-001), (Administrative Resource Core U24) (RFA-AA-16-002), (Resource Core U24) (RFA-AA-16-003)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Application Due Date(s): January 15, 2016 - Alcohol Use Disorders: Behavioral Treatment, Services and Recovery Research (R01) (PA-15-299),(R03) (PA-15-300), (R21) (PA-15-301)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Application Due Date(s): Standard dates apply - Multidisciplinary Studies of HIV and Viral Hepatitis Co-Infection (R01) (PAR-14-255), (R21) (PAR-14-254)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Application Due Date(s): Standard AIDS dates
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.
- American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Exposition: October 31 – November 4, 2015; Chicago, Illinois.
- Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) Annual National Conference: November 5-7, 2015; Washington, DC.
- Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation: December 14-15, 2015; Washington, DC. Abstract submission deadline: August 20, 2015.
- Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI): February 22-25, 2016; Boston, MA. General abstract submission deadline: September 30, 2015. Late-breaker abstract submission deadline: January 5, 2016.
Click here for more events and conferences.