The Duke CFAR Celebrates Pride Month

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month—a time to recognize and celebrate LGBTQ+ communities, honor the history of Pride, and commit to working together to ensure continued progress. It is impossible to talk about the history and current realities of the HIV epidemic without recognizing the advocacy and activism of LGBTQ+ individuals. We also cannot ignore the detrimental role that discrimination, stigma, and systemic inequality play in our fight against HIV. Read more about How HIV Impacts LGBTQ+ People.

This month – and every month – we recognize the many contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals to our world, our country, and in the fight against HIV. We affirm our commitment to promote an inclusive environment that allows everyone to thrive and our commitment to protect against discrimination. We encourage you all to think of the ways you can demonstrate this commitment in your research, including using inclusive language in grant proposals, data collection instruments, research communications, and dissemination materials.

News from the CFAR

Magnify magazine story highlights Charles Muiruri's path to becoming an HIV researcher and his journey from Nairobi to Duke

Duke University School of Medicine's magazine Magnify spoke with Charles Muiruri, an assistant research professor of population health sciences and global health, about how he leverages his background in soccer to foster community and trust in his research. Muiruri, originally from Nairobi, also shared his experiences that led to co-founding Duke's Center for Pathway Programs to mentor young learners. Muiruri is co-director of the CFAR's Health Services Scientific Working Group

You can read the full story written by Anton Zuiker on the Magnify website.

From playing soccer professionally to part-time baking and then working as a bank teller, Muiruri took a circuitous route to becoming a health care researcher. (Eamon Queeney / School of Medicine)

Charles Muiruri, PhD, MPH, a faculty member in the Duke University School of Medicine with dual roles in global health and population health, is on a mission to revolutionize care for those juggling multiple chronic health conditions. 

But when he moved to Durham, N.C., in 2002, health research was not part of his plan.  

For years, the former soccer star and graduate from the University of Nairobi used his winning mix of drive, practice, perseverance, teamwork, and communication skills to run a successful information technology company in Kenya’s capital. Arriving in the United States through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (the green card lottery), he intended to further his career in IT.  

Instead, Muiruri transitioned to academia, where he helped to build bridges between Duke and the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania. He’s produced more than 50 peer-reviewed research articles and been awarded a host of research and training grants, including funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve the quality of care for people with HIV who have cardiovascular diseases.

“I think about people living with multiple chronic conditions as if they are actually in the stock market trading a portfolio of stocks — diseases, medications, their daily lives among competing factors,” said Muiruri, an assistant professor in the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences and assistant research professor of global health.  

It’s important to understand the ways that patients weigh the benefits, such as quality of life and longevity, against risks of treatments, such as the costs and side effects, he said. Knowing each person’s preferences and goals and how they prioritize their choices can lead to better, more patient-centered care.

Chalres Muiruri speaks during the East Africa Partners Meeting, an inaugural meeting of the Duke Global Health Institute and the University of Global Health Equity partners on the UGHE campus in Butaro, Rwanda. (Photo credit: DGHI courtesy of Olivier Habiyaremye.)

From Baker to Banker to Research Coordinator

When Muiruri arrived in Durham, he wanted to build on his IT experience and eventually study computer science. But first he had to get settled into his new country, “which was very different than what I’d seen on TV in Kenya.”  Like other immigrants, Muiruri started with what he could find. His first job in Durham was as part-time baker in a Kroger grocery store. Then, he passed on an offer to drive a soda delivery truck and instead took a job working as a teller in the Wachovia Bank branch inside the Duke Clinic, also known as Duke South. 

One of his customers was John Bartlett, MD, a professor of medicine and global health researcher. “Charles had a charm and an effervescent personality that absolutely befriended him to every customer who came into that bank,” said Bartlett, who became Muiruri’s friend, mentor and collaborator.  

Bartlett and his colleagues in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases visited the branch to do their personal banking, but they also realized they could tap Muiruri’s knowledge about how to transfer and manage money in East Africa, where they were beginning to build a research program to study HIV. 

Bartlett told Muiruri about the HIV work Duke was doing in Tanzania, and he asked Muiruri to read one of the study protocols and assess how well it was translated into Swahili. “I studied it,” said Muiruri. “I didn’t think they were doing a great job in asking their study questions, so I gave them feedback. They appreciated my contributions, and they recruited me to their growing research enterprise.” 

Bartlett and his colleagues had just received an award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study AIDS-associated co-infections. They needed a research coordinator to support Duke’s partnership with KCMC in Tanzania. 

“I elected to hire Charles despite the fact that he didn’t have any research administrative experience, based upon his history in East Africa, his knowledge of Swahili, his knowledge of East African financial issues, and his knowledge of some of the potential pitfalls in that context,” Bartlett said. 

Muiruri thrived in this new role. Over the next decade, the Duke team received more NIH funding, and their research program and partnership with KCMC and other partners expanded. Muiruri’s curiosity — about research design, data analysis, and the clinical questions the research was asking — also grew. 

He ditched his computer science plans and instead earned a Master of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while continuing to work his Duke job, then kept going for his PhD in health policy and management. He joined the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences in 2019.  Read more.

Charles Muiruri plays for the Tanzanian team at the Celebration of Nations cup, a U.S. based tournament that brings together teams of individuals from different countries or the world.

On nearly 100 trips between Tanzania, Kenya, and other places, Muiruri has developed a strategy for establishing relationships and developing cultural humility. At any meeting’s first meal break, he looks across the table and asks, "Is there a place I can play soccer?"

He gets a lead every time. Playing soccer with new people offers Muiruri a way to create trust and let others see him as more than a researcher from a distant institution. 

“As a researcher, it is important that you embed into the community of people who get to benefit from your research. If I’m just sitting in an ivory tower, I’ll be proposing things that don’t make any sense, or maybe they make sense to me, but will never make any sense to others,” he said. 

Read the full Magnify story.

SBS Core welcomes Rachel Austin as Coordinator!

The Duke CFAR extends a warm welcome to Rachel Austin, the new Coordinator for the SBS Core.

As a reminder, the SBS Core is here to assist CFAR investigators in their research. They offer a variety of services including:

• Early planning and grant preparation
• Peer review
• Post-award consultation
• Training and capacity building
• Networking and community engagement
• Mentoring
• Dissemination of study findings and manuscript preparation

Please reach out to Rachel for any CFAR SBS-related requests.

Today! DC CFAR Aging & Comorbidities Scientific Working Group (SWG) Virtual Kickoff Meeting - Empowering People Aging with HIV

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 | 12-1 pm ET | Zoom

Please join the DC CFAR's Aging & Comorbidities Scientific Working Group (SWG) for our first virtual seminar as a new SWG. This seminar is on Wednesday, June 26, from 12:00-1:00pm ET, via Zoom

We will be hearing from Melanie Reese, from the Survivors of HIV Advocating for Research Engagement (SHARE) Board for a presentation entitled, "Empowering People Aging with HIV." This will be followed by a community discussion and Q&A. Please share this message with your networks, and register to receive Zoom information!

Melanie Reese is an African American older woman thriving with HIV for twenty years. She is the Executive Director of Older Women Embracing Life (OWEL). Melanie served fourteen years as a member of The Greater Baltimore HIV Health Services Planning Council in various leadership capacities, where she spent her last two years as Planning Council Chair. She serves on The HIV Prevention Group for the Maryland Department of Health and also Baltimore City Department of Health HIV/AIDS Commission and HIV Prevention Group for over five years each. Ms. Reese is an active member of Johns Hopkins Institute of Clinical and Translational Research Community Research Advisory Council and serves on several clinical trial and research studies community/stakeholder advisory boards. 

Register for the seminar.

Duke Happy Hour Mixer at AIDS 2024

Thursday, July 25, 2024 | 5:30-7 pm CET | Novotel Hotel - Munich, Germany

The Duke CFAR will sponsor a happy hour at the AIDS 2024 Conference in Munich, Germany. Please RSVP and share your accepted abstract/presentation details with the CFAR.

RSVP for the event.

Inter-CFAR Faith & Spirituality Research Collaborative National Meeting

October 21-22, 2024 | Nashville, TN

Registration is open for a national meeting focused on exploring the opportunities in research at the intersection of Faith, Spirituality, and HIV to foster new collaborations toward ending the HIV epidemic. Bringing together those who have experience with faith communities and have interest in becoming engaged with implementation science research, and investigators involved in HIV implementation science. Please register by September 10.

October 21-22, 2024

The Cal Turner Family Center at Meharry Medical College

Wayne Riley Auditorium

1011 21st Ave N, Nashville, TN 37208

Register for the meeting.

Save the Date - Keystone Symposium, HIV Cure: Antiretroviral Therapy-Free Control of HIV Infection

April 7-10, 2025 | Durban, South Africa

Save the date for the upcoming Keystone Symposium, HIV Cure: Antiretroviral Therapy-Free Control of HIV Infection, taking place April 7-10, 2025 at the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani in Durban, South Africa.  

Applications due July 8 - Gilead Sciences Research Scholars Program

The Research Scholars Program supports innovative research from emerging investigators around the world to incorporate new perspectives in our pursuit of scientific understanding and progress. We believe that new, diverse voices and research topics are needed to advance scientific knowledge in areas of unmet medical need and create a healthier world. The program is designed to support any innovative basic, clinical, behavioral, epidemiological, implementation science and community-based participatory scientific research related to HIV.

The HIV program provides a minimum of 4 awards. Each award is funded up to $180,000 USD for two years, to be paid in annual.

Applications will be reviewed and selected by an independent Scientific Review Committee comprised of internationally recognized experts in basic and clinical research in the field of HIV. Gilead’s Research Scholars Program is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive scientific community.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Hold an MD, DO, PhD, or equivalent degree at time of award
• Received your initial faculty appointment within the last 5 years at the time of application
• Have a strong career interest in HIV
• Have a research mentor with extensive experience in their field (co-mentorship is accepted)
• Be able to devote approximately 50% of professional time to research
• Be able to complete the proposed research within the 2-year award period

Application Deadline: July 8, 2024

Learn more and apply.

NIH Notices

NOT-DA-24-013: Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) regarding the Availability of Emergency Competitive Revisions for Coordinating Center Infrastructure to Support Research on Opioid Overdose and HIV Risk in the Context of Justice Systems

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is issuing this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) to highlight the urgent need for coordinating center infrastructure to support research on opioid overdose —a national public health emergency declared by the Department of Health and Human Services since October 26, 2017— and HIV risk in the context of justice system. NIDA seeks applications to support network and data coordination and dissemination for the recently launched Justice HIV and Overdose Research Network. Key responsibilities include administrative and logistical support; data and analytic support; dissemination and stakeholder engagement support; as well as targeted research projects to support the overall work of the network.

Advancing HIV service delivery through pharmacies and pharmacists -- R01 Clinical Trial Optional (RFA-MH-25-185) & R21 Clinical Trial Optional (RFA-MH-25-186)

The purpose of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to solicit research designed to capacitate, transform, and scale the delivery of HIV testing, prevention, and care services through pharmacists and pharmacies in US and/or global settings. This includes the opportunity to advance training curricula that enables pharmacy students, pharmacists, pharmacies, and pharmacy systems to deliver the spectrum of needed HIV services with ease, equity, and effectiveness. 

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