{"id":13629,"date":"2024-01-23T13:55:47","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/?page_id=13629"},"modified":"2024-01-23T13:55:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:55:47","slug":"transitioning-the-talc-study","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/transitioning-the-talc-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Transitioning the TALC Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this issue of the URBAN ARCH newsletter, we formally share the transition of Project 2 of the International URBAN ARCH Center from Russia to Uganda. This project, now entitled\u00a0<\/span>\u201cTuberculosis, Alcohol, Lung Comorbidities (TALC),\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>will study the impact of alcohol on post-TB lung disease among people with HIV (PWH) in Uganda. In this article, we share the ongoing process of this transition, as these are unchartered territories for all of us.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), the new site for the TALC study.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The initiation of this transition began in the summer of 2022, when we received direction from NIAAA to change sites for the remainder of the 5-year grant due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Prior to this direction, we had been working with our team in St. Petersburg since September 2021 to prepare study protocols, assessments, and data systems for a summer recruitment start. The URBAN ARCH collaborators in the US and St. Petersburg have a long-standing relationship and we are grateful for this productive partnership of over 20 years.<\/p>\n

\"\"
URBAN ARCH Uganda collaborators in Boston.\u00a0L-R: Debbie Cheng, Michael Winter, Winnie Muyindike, Nneka Emenyonu, Judy Hahn, Robin Fatch, Julian Adong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We considered the following factors in the decision of where to transition this research project: HIV\/alcohol\/TB epidemiology, relationships with local investigators, and site capacity. Ultimately, we decided moving the study to Mbarara, Uganda would be the most feasible option. This was largely motivated by this site\u2019s HIV\/alcohol\/TB epidemiology and the ongoing relationship that URBAN ARCH has with the Mbarara University Science and Technology (MUST) team, led by Dr. Winnie Muyindike. Not only has this team worked for many years on URBAN ARCH studies with Drs. Judy Hahn and Nneka Emenyonu, but they are also the local site for\u00a0<\/span>Project 1<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(TRAC) of the International URBAN ARCH Center. This past and ongoing relationship with the MUST team has facilitated the transition of the TALC study.<\/p>\n

While the relationship with MUST has made the site change possible, it has not come without its challenges. The initial challenge was the additional costs required to change sites. We applied for multi-year supplemental funding to NIAAA in September to support these additional costs and received notice of funding in early December.<\/p>\n

Other challenges faced are common among any team working with a new site. These include understanding the requirements of the local IRB, TB health system in Uganda, workflows, and data system capacities. For the past few months, we have been meeting regularly with Drs. Muyindike and Emenyonu to work through study flow and understanding of processes.<\/p>\n

As a result of the additional time to achieve this transition, we have made a few changes to the study protocol, such as shortening the study follow-up period from 30 to 18 months. We have also adapted parts of the assessment to be more harmonized with the TRAC assessment, which will increase the capacity for cross-cohort analyses between projects 1 and 2. As we continue to adapt the study, receive the necessary IRB approvals, and update data systems, we aim to begin recruitment in April 2023. Members of the study team will travel to Uganda in March 2023 to conduct training.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThe transition path is not without rough points, but it has been made smooth by a visionary team and clear communication. I look forward to working on the TALC project with everyone involved.\u201d \u2013 Dr. Winnie Muyindike, Study Investigator<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWe want to thank the MUST team, specifically Drs. Muyindike and Emenyonu, for their enthusiasm and great efforts in making this transition possible. Without them, this would have been impossible. We look forward to beginning recruitment and learning more about how alcohol affects post-TB lung disease among people with HIV.\u201d \u2013 Dr. Kaku So-Armah, Project Lead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this issue of the URBAN ARCH newsletter, we formally share the transition of Project 2 of the International URBAN ARCH Center from Russia to Uganda. This project, now entitled\u00a0\u201cTuberculosis, Alcohol, Lung Comorbidities (TALC),\u201d\u00a0will study the impact of alcohol on post-TB lung disease among people with HIV (PWH) in Uganda. In this article, we share […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20124,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":36,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/no-sidebars.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13629"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13633,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13629\/revisions\/13633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urbanarch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}