Biomedical HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Yunnan
HIV/AIDSB-HAPPY is an implementation project to study the process by which pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is introduced and integrated into a specific international health system facing high rates of HIV incidence among men who have sex with men. The study will use a stepped wedge design to compare implementation outcomes across eight municipalities in Yunnan, China.
PositiveLinks: mHealth for DC Cohort
HIV/AIDSTo achieve the end of the HIV epidemic, concerted efforts will be needed to address the HIV care continuum, including improving retention in care (RIC) and viral suppression (VS) among persons with HIV (PWH). In the U.S., less than 50% of PWH are RIC and even fewer are VS. Studies have shown that these PWH have poorer clinical outcomes and are at risk of transmitting HIV to others, hence the need for innovative solutions to improve retention in care and subsequent viral suppression. Theory-based mHealth interventions have been shown to be promising in reaching these at-risk groups and improving HIV-related outcomes. PositiveLinks is a clinic-deployed mHealth platform that includes patient and provider smartphone apps, a web portal for clinic staff and providers to manage patient cohorts, an online implementation guide, and a learning management system to train and certify clinic staff. It has theory-based features including daily queries of adherence, mood, and stress, graphical feedback for self-monitoring, secure messaging with staff, appointment reminders, anonymized peer support, information resources, and document upload capability to support insurance re-enrollment. A 12-month prospective study in poorly retained PWH found that PL increased RIC and VS, with app use related to benefit as well as improved social support and stigma. PL is a promising existing mHealth tool for PWH, yet its efficacy has not been tested in a randomized trial, nor in urban populations. The investigators will test the efficacy of PositiveLinks to improve RIC and VS among a cohort of PWH in a high HIV prevalence city of Washington, DC. Participants will be identified from the DC Cohort, a longitudinal prospective cohort of PWH receiving HIV care at 15 clinics in DC. First, the investigators will conduct formative research to assess the feasibility, acceptability and usability of PositiveLinks among this urban cohort and conduct subsequent adaptations based on these findings. The investigators will then conduct an efficacy study through a cluster randomized controlled trial at 12 DC Cohort sites among 482 PWH. Clinics will be randomized to PL or usual care. Primary outcomes will include VS, RIC, and visit constancy at 12 months. Finally, the investigators will conduct mixed methods implementation science research guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and RE-AIM to identify site, patient, provider, and system factors that characterize best practices in program implementation. If successful, this research will lead to the development of a novel and efficacious approach to improving RIC and VS among PWH which could lead to dissemination research that will contribute to HIV epidemic control. This project is responsive to NIH priorities, National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and Ending the HIV Epidemic goals as it is cross-cutting, seeks to reduce health inequities, and to improve health outcomes to achieve sustained viral suppression in a geographic hotspot for HIV.
PeerNaija: A Mobile Health Platform Incentivizing Medication Adherence Among Youth Living With HIV...
HIV/AIDSThe PEERNaija application will feature routine medication reminders, along with individual adherence monitoring with adherence scores, anonymized peer adherence scores (from peers attending the same clinic; social incentive), and a monthly lottery-based prize for youth with the highest adherence scores (financial incentive). The Investigators will recruit a cohort of 50 HIV-infected adolescents and young adults (AYA) to pilot the app and assess feasibility, acceptability, adoption, and preliminary efficacy of important clinical measures (including adherence and virologic suppression). The proposed study will provide important preliminary data for the role of mobile health (mHealth) platforms to harness and deliver social and financial incentives to promote adherence efforts, especially for vulnerable youth, and for a larger intervention trial evaluating this app among HIV-infected AYA in Nigeria.
Inflammation, NK Cells, Antisense Protein and Exosomes, and Correlation With Immune Response During...
HIV InfectionsMore than 90% of HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy have an undetectable viral load. However, approximately 15% of these individuals do not sufficiently restore their TCD4 lymphocytes and have an unfavorable CD4/CD8 ratio despite good adherence and an undetectable viral load. Factors associated with immunovirological discordance include low CD4 cell counts prior to antiretroviral therapy, low CD4/CD8 ratios and positive cytomegalovirus (CMV) serology. These patients are at risk of significant non-AIDS events and mortality. The anti-sense protein (ASP) is synthesized from the anti-sense strand of HIV-1. A cytotoxic anti-ASP response of CD8 T lymphocytes and anti-ASP antibodies have been demonstrated in infected patients. The conservation of the ASP gene in HIV-1, the virus responsible for the pandemic, suggests that its maintenance confers an advantage to the virus. ASP induces an inflammatory phenotype in surrounding cells. ASP can be externalized by the cell through its interaction with its cellular partner Bat-3. Once externalized in soluble or exosomal form, Bat-3 has the ability to regulate NK cell activity. During HIV infection, NK functions are disrupted, including those related to the expression of the Bat-3 receptor, NKp30. In patients, the inflammatory phenomenon is strongly associated with chronic HIV-1 infection. The efficacy of antiviral treatments does not allow a complete normalization of either the immune system function or the inflammatory status of the patient. The observed effect of ASP on inflammation raises the question of the involvement of ASP in the maintenance of a chronic inflammatory state in patients under treatment. Increased inflammation has also been associated in HIV-infected patients with elevated plasma exosome levels. In patients undergoing treatment, chronic inflammation remains a major problem and an important source of comorbidities (cardiovascular in particular) and probably contributes to the immunovirological non-response in immunodiscordant HIV-infected patients. It is hypothesized that ASP bound to its cellular partner Bat-3 in exosomes would disrupt the cytotoxic activity of NK cells, sustain inflammation and have a deleterious effect on immune reconstitution.
Study to Assess the Effects of Cabotegravir (CAB) and Rilpivirine (RPV) Long-Acting (LA) Injections...
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1)This study will assess the pharmacokinetics, safety, tolerability, maintenance of virological suppression and patient reported outcomes for participants receiving CAB and RPV LA injections following SC administration in the anterior abdominal wall SC tissue compared with IM administration in the gluteus medius muscle in adult participants living with HIV-1 infection in the FLAIR study (NCT02938520).
Drug-Drug Interaction Study of Vesatolimod in Adults With HIV-1 Who Have Very Low or Undetectable...
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) InfectionThe goal of this clinical study is to learn more about the impact of cobicistat (COBI) (P-glycoprotein (P-gp), breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), and strong cytochrome P450 enzyme [CYP]3A inhibitor), voriconazole (VOR) (strong CYP3A inhibitor), and rifabutin (RFB) (moderate CYP3A inducer) on the study drug, vesatolimod (VES), in people with HIV-1 on antiretroviral therapy (ART).
A Roll-over Study With Rilpivirine for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Infected Participants...
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1The purpose of this study is to provide continued access to rilpivirine (RPV) for participants who were treated with RPV in a clinical development pediatric study with rilpivirine and who, at the time of roll-over, experience and are expected to continue experiencing clinical benefit from RPV treatment.
Study Evaluating the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Switching to Long-acting Cabotegravir...
InfectionHuman Immunodeficiency Virus1 moreThe Antiretroviral Therapy as Long Acting Suppression (ATLAS) study is being conducted to establish if human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infected adult subjects with current viral suppression on a regimen with 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) plus a third agent, remain suppressed upon switching to a two-drug intramuscular (IM) long-acting (LA) regimen of cabotegravir (CAB) and rilpivirine (RPV). This is a Phase 3, multi-phase, randomized, open label, active-controlled, multicenter, parallel-group, non-inferiority study in HIV-1, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-adult subjects who are stably suppressed on a current antiretroviral (ARV) regimen. This study is designed to demonstrate the non-inferior antiviral activity of switching to a two drug CAB LA 400 mg + RPV LA 600 mg regimen every 4 weeks (Q4W: monthly) compared with maintenance of current ARV regimen containing 2 NRTIs plus an INI, NNRTI, or a PI. Eligible subjects will be randomized (1:1) into the Maintenance Phase at Day 1 to either continue current ART or switch to initiate oral therapy with CAB 30 mg + RPV 25 mg once daily for 4 Weeks followed by Q4 weekly (monthly) CAB LA + RPV LA injections. Following the Maintenance phase at Week 52, subjects who were randomized to continue their current ART regimen will be given an option to switch to CAB LA + RPV LA injections. Those subjects would transition to LA dosing, beginning with 4 weeks oral CAB + RPV therapy at Week 52, and receive the first IM CAB LA + RPV LA injections at Week 56.
Combinatorial Therapy to Induce an HIV Remission
HIV/AIDSCombination approaches will almost certainly be required to generate durable control of HIV in the absence of antiretroviral therapy (a "remission"). In this study, 20 individuals will receive a combination regimen administered during ART and then undergo an analytic treatment interruption (ATI).
INcentives and ReMINDers to Improve Long-term Medication Adherence
HIV/AIDSThe study will test the feasibility and acceptability of using text messages and behavioral economics-based incentives to support anchoring Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) adherence to an existing routine in order to improve long-term ART medication adherence. The intervention phase of the three-phased study will constitute the pilot RCT. A sample of 150 clients who have initiated ART in the preceding three months will be randomized to either usual care (C = 50) or one of the two INMIND intervention groups (daily text message reminders with or without incentives) for three months (T1 = 50; T2=50). Subsequently, behavioral persistence will be evaluated for six months post-intervention. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, month 3, and month 9. The primary outcomes are 1) electronically measured mean medication adherence during the intervention and 2) six months post intervention, along with 3) timeliness of medication adherence during the intervention and 4) six months post-intervention.