February 28th is HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day: Learn more about the amendment of North Carolina's HIV Control Measures

February 28 is HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day, which was first observed in 2022 by the Sero Project in collaboration with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. This awareness day is an opportunity to amplify the voices of those who have been criminalized based on their HIV status. Living with HIV is not a crime, but in more than 30 U.S. states, people are being imprisoned due to their HIV status. HIV criminalization laws consist of using a person’s positive HIV status in a criminal prosecution, increasing charges or punishments because the person has HIV.

From the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD): "In the video featured above we discuss how, on January 1, 2018, North Carolina’s HIV Control Measures were amended to exempt individuals who are in care and have been virally suppressed for at least six months from disclosing their status or using condoms; to recognize the effectiveness of PrEP and remove stigmatizing language from the law; and brought North Carolina into compliance with the federal HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act. The modernization of North Carolina’s HIV Control Measures was a result of a task force of people living with HIV, medical providers, and advocates, convened by North Carolina AIDS Action Network and the Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative. The task force worked with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to draft the recommendations, incorporating evidence, including U=U and jointly built community support."

News from the CFAR

"Everybody is important in this ecosystem":

CFAR members participate in workshop with Dr. Glenda Gray on Why Love, Compassion, and Advocacy are Essential for Impactful HIV Research

CFAR members, including trainees, faculty, and lab and program staff, gathered together yesterday for an interactive workshop to reflect on what work we can do as researchers to center community and advocacy in our work and throughout our careers. We were joined by Dr. Glenda Gray, a pediatrician and co-founder of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto, South Africa.

Evidence as a Tool for Advocacy

Dr. Gray started off the workshop by sharing stories from her career, reflecting on the importance of advocacy in shaping the trajectory of the HIV epidemic in South Africa, as well as the role of research and evidence. She recounted her experience as a pediatrician in the early 90s, watching the eruption of HIV in the pediatric wards where she worked. Dr. Gray and other scientists took the government to court in order to combat AIDS denialism that was preventing access to lifesaving treatments and essential tools for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Dr. Gray highlighted the important role of researchers to generate the evidence that can be used by advocates to push for policy change. She pointed to irrefutable science as the motivation to continue her advocacy even in the face of opposition from the government.

Reflecting on Our Own Work

As part of the workshop, attendees were asked to reflect on their own work and identify where they see gaps in understanding their research in the context of communities or larger systems. They then framed these thoughts in the form of a "How Might I..." question that encourages solutions and ideas.

Example questions included:

• How might I meet people living with HIV and get to know their perspectives?
• How might I learn how my research fits into the bigger picture?
• How might I gain an understanding of what it would look like for someone to navigate HIV care?
• How might I learn the best language to use when talking about HIV or my research?
• How might I improve my understanding of the potential impact of my research on communities?
• How might I amplify the voices of people living with HIV?
• How might I incorporate community engagement into my lab-based research?
• How might I get involved in HIV advocacy outside of my research?

Individually, and then together in small groups, they brainstormed ideas for addressing these questions, which included:

• bringing community members or research participants into the labs to show how samples are used
• shadowing HIV clinicians or accompanying someone living with HIV during a visit or navigating their day
• meeting with community members to talk about research findings and get their ideas on the implications
• creating common vocabularies to discuss topics in easily understandable language

The Duke CFAR has compiled local HIV community engagement and advocacy resources, including resources within Duke and organizations in Durham and North Carolina. We encourage you to explore these resources and reflect on some "How might I" questions relevant to your research!

Collaboration, Communication, and Respect

Dr. Gray commented on the potential of these ideas as ways to approach advocacy and centering communities in our day-to-day research and as a means of democratizing science. She discussed the importance of respect and listening to others in communication, as well as understanding privilege and being aware of power differentials related to education, race, language, and class.

The workshop brought together CFAR members from across Duke who are approaching HIV research from different perspectives, whether in the lab or working with communities in rural Uganda. As Dr. Gray stated, "Everybody is important in this ecosystem." As a powerful example of interconnectedness and collaboration, Dr. Gray commented on her experiences earlier in the day touring some of the labs at Duke. As one of the Co-Principal Investigators of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), it was particularly meaningful to see HVTN samples in the Duke labs that originated from infants in the hospitals of Soweto where she worked.

Dr. Gray will also give the Victor J. Dzau Distinguished Lecture in Global Health tonight at 6pm.

From HIV to COVID: Health and Human Rights in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023 | 5pm-7pm ET |Karsh Alumni Center, 2080 Duke University Rd

Victor J. Dzau Distinguished Lecture in Global Health and Alumni Reception

South Africa’s democratic government came to power in 1994 with a new constitution founded on the values of human dignity, the achievement of equality, and the advancement of human rights and freedom. At the same time, the AIDS epidemic swept across sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Glenda Gray, a pioneering South African physician and researcher and president of the South African Medical Research Council, will discuss how the country made important scientific breakthroughs on the disease, while also battling the legacies of apartheid, prejudice and AIDS denialism. Drawing parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Gray will examine the impact of both public health crises on human rights.

Dr. Gray, a pediatrician, is the co-founder of the internationally recognized Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto, South Africa. She is a co-principal investigator of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, an international collaboration working to develop a vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS. In 2017, Time named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for her pioneering work on HIV prevention, and Forbes named her as one of Africa’s 50 most influential women. As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, she was among the first South African leaders to engage in public dialogue about the health crisis and moved quickly to establish COVID-19 vaccine trials in the country. When the country’s vaccine roll-out faltered, she managed to procure half a million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for health care workers during the Beta wave of infection.

ABOUT THE EVENT

The Victor J. Dzau Distinguished Lecture in Global Health brings visionary leaders to Duke to discuss cross-cutting issues confronting health, equity and human rights around the world. This year, we are celebrating the return to in-person events with a special reception for Duke global health alumni and friends before Dr. Gray’s talk in Duke’s beautiful Karsh Alumni Center. Come to reconnect with DGHI faculty, staff and alumni, meet DGHI’s new director and greet our speaker. Both the talk and reception are free and open to the public, but registration is strongly encouraged.

Free parking will be available in the paved lot adjacent to the Karsh Center off Duke University Road. Overflow parking will be available in the gravel lot across Duke University Road.



This annual lecture is supported by a gift from former Duke Health chancellor Victor J. Dzau, and his wife, Ruth Cooper-Dzau, as well as funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Matching Grant.

Learn more and RSVP.

Webinar - Acceptability assessment in HIV intervention and service delivery programs: A summary of existing evidence and recommendations for better practice

Thursday, February 16th, 2023 | 2-3pm ET | Zoom

The NIAID-NIMH Behavioral and Social Sciences Project Team (BSSPT) Presents:

We have often grappled with how to assess “acceptability” of HIV prevention interventions in our own studies. The HIV literature offers varied approaches to conceptualize and measure acceptability, with many studies considering constructs like “intervention retention” or “product uptake” as sole acceptability indicators. However, acceptability is multi-faceted and separate from these behavioral outcomes. This presentation will describe findings from our recent systematic review, in which we inventory acceptability measurement in the HIV treatment and prevention literature (including biomedical, behavioral, and combination prevention approaches) and offer suggested rankings of these measures based on theoretical underpinnings and data collection approaches. We will conclude by sharing our recommendations for best practices in acceptability research, which are timely and critical in this era of informed choice and novel HIV prevention and treatment options.

Zoom information

Meeting URL: https://nih.zoomgov.com/j/1600789141?pwd=QytyZUtYUjI2S3cwK0M2ZldWcVZwZz09

Meeting ID: 160 078 9141

Passcode: 815863

Request for Research Proposals: Imbokodo HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trial

The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the NIH/NIAID Division of AIDS (DAIDS), and Janssen Vaccines and Prevention are pleased to welcome scientific study proposals involving specimens and/or study data from the Imbokodo (HVTN 705/VAC89220HPX2008) HIV vaccine clinical trial. 

Ongoing research: 

Immunological correlates research is ongoing in the Imbokodo study to investigate associations between HIV-1 infection risk, vaccine efficacy and both humoral and cellular immunity: 

• Serum antibody binding to vaccine-matched antigens as well as to diverse panels of subtype C and cross-subtype HIV-1 antigens are being assessed through ELISA and a binding antibody multiplex assay (BAMA). 

• Antibody functionality is being evaluated through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and phagocytosis (ADCP), and systems serology analyses are being done that cover a diverse array of antibody binding and functional responses. 

• Functional T-cell responses are being investigated through IFN-ɣ ELISpot and intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) responses to vaccine-matched and potential T-cell Epitope (PTE) peptide pools, as well as T-cell breadth mapping via IFN-ɣ ELISpot. 

• Viral sequencing of gag, pol and env genes is ongoing from all participants who acquired HIV-1 between months 7 and 24, to enable sieve analysis. 

• Mucosal antibody responses will be assayed by multiplex binding assays. 

• The impact of vaginal microbial composition on vaccine efficacy and the likelihood of acquiring HIV is being explored. 

• Host genetic factors (including Fc receptor, IGHG variation and HLA genotype) are being assessed to investigate if these impact the vaccine efficacy. 

Call for Proposals 

We welcome proposals for research projects that will potentially extend, complement, or advance key hypotheses from the areas detailed above, or investigate other novel research questions beyond those listed to further the understanding of the outcomes in this clinical trial. 

Learn more about this sample opportunity.

Register for CFAR Quantitative Methods for HIV Researchers Part II: Assays Workshops

Registration is now open for the Part III: Assays Workshops. The Quantitative Methods for HIV Researchers workshop series is designed to provide HIV researchers with the quantitative skills necessary for analysis of large, complex data sets resulting from assays such as single-cell RNA-seq, flow cytometry, fMRI, etc. These NIH-funded workshops are open to graduate students, postdocs, medical fellows, staff and faculty. Non-Duke-affiliated applicants are welcome.

Each workshop in the Assays series will focus on one assay type, and you are encouraged to sign up for as many as you like. Attendance in Part I / Part II workshops or other demonstrated competence in R is required. The workshops will be taught in person at Hock Plaza on Thursdays from 1 – 4PM.

Register by Friday, February 24, 2023

Learn more and register.

CFAR Pilot Grant RFA Released - Apply for up to $100,000 in funds

The CFAR Developmental Core Pilot Awards support scientific studies for 1 year. The purpose of these awards is to develop preliminary data for peer-reviewed applications.

Proposals must target one of the NIH HIV/AIDS Priority Areas of Research.

Two types of Pilot Awards are available:

• Standard Pilot Awards (7 pages) -- up to a maximum award of $100,000 direct funding
• Focused Pilot Awards (3 pages) -- up to a maximum award of $60,000 direct funding

Eligibility for CFAR Pilot Awards

Faculty

• No prior R01 level funding in the HIV/AIDS field
• Applicants with prior R01 funding in other fields are encouraged to apply

Post-doctoral and Clinical fellows

• Applicants with a current K award must have NIH pre-approval
• T32 awardees cannot use CFAR award for training or stipends
• Separate letter of support from faculty mentor required, see Application information below
• If proposal is reviewed and meets scoring criteria for award, PI Status must be submitted and obtained by department prior to CFAR issuing an award notification (JIT)

Questions on eligibility should be directed to the CFAR Developmental Core

Required letter of intent due: Tuesday, February 28th

Proposals Due: May 1, 2023

Projected Award Date: July 1, 2023

Learn more and access the RFP.

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

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