Quoted - Dr. Chris Beyrer in NC Health News

News from the CFAR

See you tomorrow at the CFAR Retreat!

We are excited for a packed day full of scientific updates and connecting with other CFAR researchers across Duke. Please see the following information for day-of logistics:

Location: Trent Semans Great Hall - 8 Searle Center Drive

• Front entrance (coming from Research Drive) – Duke badge required for entry. We will have someone at the front door to open if you do not have a Duke badge.
• Jo Rae Café entrance (coming from hospital) – Open, this entry is open for all and will be the entry point for off campus attendees that park in PG1 (see photo below).  

Auditorium Seating: The CFAR community continues to grow, and we have adjusted our event this year to be primarily auditorium seating (no tables) for attendees.

Parking: If you currently have a Duke Parking Pass, please park in your regular lot. Limited paid parking vouchers are available for parking in PG1 (302 Trent Drive - Duke Medicine Circle Parking Garage which is off of Erwin Road) – please allow time for parking as the clinics will be busy at this time of day! Take a ticket when entering the garage; voucher tickets will be available at the registration - you will need BOTH tickets to exit the parking garage post-meeting.

Congratulations to the 2023 CFAR Pilot Awardees

The CFAR Developmental Core provides resources and services to CFAR members to enhance career development in basic, clinical or social and behavioral sciences. Resources and services provided by the Developmental Core include funding for small grants to assist CFAR members in the generation of preliminary data to support grant proposals submitted to external funding agencies. The CFAR Developmental Core Pilot Awards support scientific studies for 1 year.

This year, the Duke CFAR awarded two Standard grant awards of $100,000 and two Focused grant awards of $60,000. Congratulations to the grant recipients!

Naseem Alavian, MD, MPH - HIV care engagement: Identifying predictors of engagement and building a collaboration with the Durham County Health Department (Standard)

The aim of this proposal is to gather preliminary data that will inform the development and implementation of a health system-based effort to improve care engagement among people living with HIV (PWH) that may be scaled and disseminated in the region. By increasing retention of PWH on life saving antiretroviral therapy we will reduce HIV morbidity and mortality, as well as work toward reducing new HIV incidence and ending the HIV epidemic through Treatment as Prevention, a priority goal of the National Institutes of Health.

Suur Debrah Ayangeakaa, PhD, MPH - A community-informed strategy for understanding and addressing the influence of HIV-related and intersectional stigmas on access to and uptake (use) of HIV prevention including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among cisgender African American women (Standard)

In 2019, HIV diagnoses increased in NC; 63% of cases were African American and 19% were women. Intersecting stigma impacts HIV disparities among African American women, but is not well understood. Understanding intersecting stigmas can enhance efforts to increase HIV prevention among African American women by improving acceptability of PrEP. The purpose of this proposal is to obtain preliminary data needed for achieving a long-term goal to design, implement, and evaluate a multi-level community-informed, culturally tailored intervention to address intersectional and HIV-related stigmas influencing HIV prevention uptake such as PrEP among cisgender African American women.

Emily Niehaus, MD, MPH - Clinic-based incentives to promote patient uptake of long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy for the treatment of HIV (Focused)

This project will evaluate clinic-based strategies that incentivize patients to uptake Long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy (LAI-ART), which has the potential to address treatment fatigue, stigma, and care disengagement among people living with

HIV taking daily oral ART. We will specifically investigate how a LAI-ART regimen could be leveraged in the clinic to optimize cardiovascular disease risk management, which bears significant public health impact given the rising incidence of CVD-related morbidity and mortality in people with HIV.

Daniel Schuster, MD, MS - Leveraging Single B Cell Clonal Lineage Tracing to Unravel the Fine-tuning of Antiviral Fc Effector Functions (Focused)

B cells produce antibodies of various amounts and quality in response to HIV-1 vaccination or infection. Antibody glycosylation is one way that antibodies fine-tune their interactions with the rest of the immune system. Whether B cells regulate glycosylation through evolution within clonal families or by producing new families of B cells is a fundamental unanswered question in immunology/medicine that will help advance the field. Results from this pilot study will fill a critical gap in B cell immunology regarding intracellular regulation of antibody post-translational modifications.

Read the announcement on the CFAR website.

Duke Sexual and Gender Minority Wellness Symposium



September 17-19, 2023 |Virtual Panels + In-person Film Screening

Register now for the 2023 Duke Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Wellness Symposium, a free and virtual event, happening September 17-19, 2023.

On Sunday, Sept 17 from 2-4pm ET in the Ruby Film Theater (2020 Campus Dr. Durham, NC), we’ll be screening CURED, a film that explores the historic campaign that led the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its manual of mental illnesses. The film will be followed by a discussion with the co-director and local SGM advocates. From 12-5pm ET on Sept 18-19, join our superb lineup of panelists for the following virtual panel discussions: Global SGM Health & Human Rights; Intersectionality in SGM Health Research; Trans Reproductive Freedom; SGM Policies: Recap of 2023 and Preparing for 2024; Trans Teen Wellbeing; and Bi+ Health & Wellbeing. 

Learn more and register for the symposium.

Durham Pride



Saturday, September 23, 2023 | Duke's East Campus & Durham, NC

Durham's Pride Festival is taking place on Saturday, September 23rd. The parade will take place on Duke's East Campus from 10:30am-12:30pm, with the Festival also taking place on East Campus from 12pm-4pm. A concert will take place on CCB Plaza from 5pm-8pm.

This year’s theme for Pride is “GIVE THEM THEIR FLOWERS" -- as the subtitle describes, we offer honor and gratitude for the courage and leadership of our trans communities, particularly our Black and brown trans women and non-binary folks. Our events this year will provide opportunities for us to center and celebrate members of the LGBTQ+ community who boldly certify our public standards for human dignity, all while facing physical violence, hateful legislation, and other harmful experiences. We intend to commemorate our ancestors who sowed past seeds that still bear fruit today and to pay tribute to the people who help us be our best selves now, embodying our highest values and greatest visions for a more whole, safe, and liberated Durham, North Carolina.

Learn more about this year's events.

CFAR-wide Webinar: Combining Data from HIV Randomized Clinical Trials



Monday, October 9, 2023 | 3:30-4:30pm ET | Zoom

Combining Data from HIV Randomized Clinical Trials

Speakers: Bonnie Shook Sa and Paul Zivich

Moderator: Stephen Cole 

Registration is required.

The second CFAR-wide webinar in October will be held Monday, October 23rd from 3:30-4:30pm ET:



Reintroducing the Rustbelt CFAR

Speakers: Jonathan Karn and colleagues

Register for the October 23rd webinar.

Symposium on Emerging Infectious Diseases



October 24-25, 2023 |Duke Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center

The Emerging Infectious Diseases program at Duke-NUS Medical School and the Duke Center for Virology are co-organizing a Symposium on Emerging Infectious Diseases, with a focus on virology, which will be held on the Duke campus. This is a continued effort to build ties between the Duke-NUS EID program and leaders in the field with shared research interests in the RTP region. The meeting will be held over two days (October 24-25, 2023) in the Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center at Duke. We envision that this meeting will serve as a forum for broad ranging discussions on molecular biology, microbial pathogenesis, immunology, global health, and pandemic preparedness. We hope that you will be able to attend and participate.

Learn more and register.

Abstracts due September 18th for 2023 Inter-CFAR Women and HIV Symposium



December 6-7, 2023 |San Francisco, CA

The goal of the Inter-CFAR Women and HIV Symposium is to identify gaps in knowledge in HIV and women’s research and develop strategies that will move the field forward. In order to accomplish this goal, we aim to generate collaborative activity between CFARs and other research networks, highlighting cutting-edge science and promoting opportunities for early career investigators.

 The Symposium will feature three sessions on the following topics:

• Reproductive Health, in particular the US Perinatal Guidelines on Breastfeeding with HIV: From Policy to Practice
• Antiretroviral Therapy and Metabolism in the Era of INSTIs: Sex and Gender Differences
• Aging with HIV across the Gender Spectrum

The planning committee solicits abstracts for posters and oral presentations related to all areas of HIV among women including prevention, treatment, and cure. Abstracts may be submitted by investigators of any level. Abstracts are due Monday, September 18, 2023. Full travel scholarships will be awarded to oral presenters, and partial travel scholarships will be awarded to poster presenters. Please let Mary Oris know if you are planning to submit an abstract.

Learn more about the symposium and abstract submission. 

Abstracts due September 27th for CROI 2024



March 3-6, 2024 |Denver, CO

The next edition of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) will be held in Denver, Colorado from March 3rd-6th 2024. The Preliminary CROI 2024 Program is available at CROIconference.org. General abstract submission closes on September 27, 2023. The categories for abstract submission are available at CROI 2024 Abstract Categories. We are particularly excited to review submissions related to Basic Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Epidemiology, and Public Health that include perspectives from the behavioral and social sciences and have an expert review panel for these submissions specifically. 

Learn more about the conference and abstract submission. 

Register for Fall 2023 NC TraCS Qualitative Research Training Series



September & October 2023 |Virtual

Registration continues for the Fall 2023 NC TraCS Qualitative Research Training series offered by the UNC North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute.

Introduction to Focus Groups – Thursday, September 21 | 10am-12pm

This interactive online workshop introduces focus groups, a data collection method used in qualitative research. Topics covered include focus group methodology, considerations for planning a focus group, development of focus group discussion guides, focus group facilitation skills, and tips for conducting virtual focus groups. Attendees will also observe or participate in a mini "mock" virtual focus group session. Register here.

Introduction to Qualitative Data Analysis – Tuesday, September 26 | 9:30am-12pm

This online training introduces basic qualitative data analysis, focusing on content/thematic analysis. The session covers the basics of qualitative data analysis and steps in the analysis process, including transcribing, memoing, codebook development and coding, using computer-based analysis software, exploring content areas or themes, and interpreting and communicating findings. Participants will have the opportunity to practice developing and applying codes. Please note: This training does not include a demonstration of how to use qualitative data analysis software. Register here.

Qualitative Data Analysis Workshop – Tuesday, October 3| 10am-12pm

In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and seek feedback on their qualitative analysis from facilitators and other attendees. Participants will have a chance to discuss and review qualitative analysis techniques while also learning from others. To attend, participants must be working on a qualitative data analysis project. Participants can seek feedback on any step in the process (e.g., coding, creating matrices/diagrams/other products, developing categories or themes, summarizing data). Participants must have attended an Introduction to Qualitative Data Analysis training offered by NC TraCS (either the session offered on September 26, 2023 or a previously offered session). Note: This session does not include an introduction to qualitative analysis. Participants will share where they are in their analysis process, ask questions about their analyses, and collectively discuss strategies for moving analyses forward. Eligibility screener.

Learn more and register.

Diversity Supplement Opportunity for Student, Post-Doc, or Early Stage Investigator

Interested in applying to NIH for an diversity supplement? A Duke faculty member has recently received NIH funding and is interested in working with a student, post-doc, or early stage investigator on writing and submitting a diversity supplement application.

Title of parent grant: Designing an ethnodrama intervention addressing PrEP stigma toward young women in Kenya/R01TW012673

Description: Young cisgender women (YCW) in Kenya are affected by HIV at a disproportionate rate. PrEP-related and other stigmas are barriers to HIV prevention. Using qualitative findings from our previous R21 research, we will develop, pre-test, and pilot test a theory-based ethnodrama intervention designed to transform community member beliefs about and foster support of YCW using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, thereby reducing enacted, anticipated, and internalized stigma. During the first year of the grant, we will work closely with partners (Kenya-based drama groups and a U.S.-based drama group who uses drama for social change) to develop the ethnodrama storylines and performance structure (e.g., number of performances, locations, audience engagement components), while also engaging a newly-formed community advisory group throughout development. Year 2 involves intervention and instrument pre-testing. In year 3, we will establish two study cohorts and engage the community in a multi-month process to pilot the intervention, using quantitative and qualitative approaches to gather data on the intervention’s potential impact on changing the narrative among community members toward young women taking PrEP and on young women’s perceptions of PrEP-related and other stigmas.

Location: Kisumu, Kenya

Partners: Kawango Agot (co-I) with Impact Research and Development Organization in Kisumu Kenya; Lyn Dickinson (co-I) with Theater Delta in the U.S.; Michael Relf (co-I) with Duke Nursing and Global Health.

Timeline: Funded July 2023. Three-year grant.

Interested? Contact Amy Corneli, PI (amy.corneli@duke.edu) with a description of proposed complementary research questions and ideas.

Funding Opportunities

• The NIH Build UP Trust Challenge was recently launched. The goal of this challenge is to identify new and promising scalable strategies that increase research participation and the adoption of existing and new tools and approaches to detect, treat, and monitor diseases, conditions, and disorders by improving engagement with minority health populations and populations with health disparities.

• NIAID MENAT Visiting Post-Doctoral Fellowship (MVF) Program. The MVF program, a component of the NIAID-MENAT Initiative, is focused on strengthening scientific collaboration between U.S. and MENAT scientists. The MVF program will be implemented under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Visiting Fellowship Program (VFP).

• Innovations to Optimize HIV Prevention and Care Continuum Outcomes (R01 Clinical Trial Optional). See NOFO PAR-23-062; and (R21 Clinical Trial Optional). See NOFO PAR-23-061

• Formative and Pilot Intervention Research to Optimize HIV Prevention and Care Continuum Outcomes (R34 Clinical Trial Optional). See NOFO PAR-23-060

• Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Implementation Science to Advance the United States HIV Prevention and Treatment Goals and the Global HIV Prevention and Treatment Targets. See NOFO NOT-MH-23-275

• Research on HIV-associated Malignancies NOT-CA-23-070

• RFA-CA-23-033: Implementation Science for Cancer Control in People Living with HIV in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)

• RFA-DA-23-023: NIDA REI: Reaching Equity at the Intersection of HIV and Substance Use: Novel Approaches to Address HIV Related Health Disparities in Underserved Racial/Ethnic Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

A compilation of funding opportunities can be found on the CFAR website.

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