Just for fun - Join the Duke CFAR NCAA men's basketball Tournament Challenge Group!

Did you know seven of the teams in this year's men's NCAA men's basketball tournament are at an institution affiliated with an NIH-funded Center for AIDS Research? (In addition to our very own Duke CFAR, the UCLA, Third Coast, Rustbelt, Texas D-CFAR, DC, and Miami CFARs are all represented).

Have you filled out a bracket for this year's tournament? Join the Duke CFAR group on ESPN Tournament challenge [Group name: Duke CFAR, password: researchiscool ]

Brackets must be finalized by 12:15pm on Thursday, March 16th.

News from the CFAR

Congratulations to QADVIP on the extension of their ANAB Accreditation!

The QADVIP team

The Quality Assurance for Duke Vaccine Immunogenicity Programs (QADVIP) was originally created in 2002, under the name of Duke CFAR Central Quality Assurance Unit (CQAU), to implement a quality system for three HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) Endpoint Assay Laboratories. Today, QADVIP oversees Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) compliance by multiple laboratories at Duke and outside of Duke. The laboratories handle processing and immunogenicity assessment of specimens from HIV, SARS CoV-2, influenza, malaria, and other -vaccine phase I-III clinical trials. QADVIP is directed by Marcella Sarzotti-Kelsoe, Ph.D.

QADVIP was one of the first quality assurance (QA) units within academia to become ISO 17020 accredited as an Inspection Body back in 2020, indicating the competence of QADVIP to perform inspections and be impartial during audit processes. This accreditation effort was led by QADVIP’s ISO manager Kristen Skinner. In February, QADVIP received a surveillance assessment from the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) to monitor compliance to the ISO 17020 “Inspection Body” Accreditation. Auditors Amanda Parrish and Zachary Korzen-Varin were observed while auditing the Ferrari Laboratory. After a successful ANAB review, QADVIP’s accreditation certificate was extended through April 2024.

Congratulations to the QADVIP team on this accomplishment, and for maintaining excellent quality standards! This important work supports monitoring and managing quality in laboratory programs for multiple vaccine consortia associated with the Duke CFAR and other strategic partners at Duke.

For more information on QADVIP please visit the CFAR website.

Dr. Megan Huchko spotlighted for International Women's Day

In celebration of the 2023 International Women’s Day theme—“DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”—Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship celebrated some of Duke’s many student and alumnae innovators working to make an impact through technology. In fields ranging from ethical AI, to STEM education, to health tech, and beyond, they’re making the world safer, more inclusive, more equitable, more sustainable, and more fun.

CFAR investigator Megan Huchko, MD, MPH was spotlighted for her research which explores the use of digital health technologies to improve cervical cancer screening. Dr. Huchko was a former CFAR Pilot Grant recipient for her project "Coupling Cervical Cancer Screening with HIV Testing through Community Health Campaigns in Western Kenya"

Read the feature.

Dr. Matthew Kelly featured in DGHI article: "A Promising New Approach Against a Forgotten Killer"

While typically treatable with antibiotics, pneumonia remains a leading cause of death among children, killing more than 700,000 children under five annually. That’s more deaths than AIDS, malaria and measles combined, according to the World Health Organization, which has led some to call pneumonia the “forgotten killer” of children. The Duke Global Health Institute writes about research being done by Matthew Kelly, M.D. on a promising natural weapon that may help prevent respiratory infections.

Dr. Kelly was a Co-Investigator on a previous CFAR Pilot Grant with Dr. Patrick Seed: "Investigating the role of the nasopharyngeal microbiome in mediating the

increased susceptibility of HIV-exposed, uninfected infants to colonization

and disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae"

Read the article.

Duke Center for Human Systems Immunology seminar: Immunogenic and antigenic DNA sequences. Mechanisms of antibody-DNA interactions

Thursday, March 23rd, 2023 | 12-1pm ET |Zoom

https://duke.zoom.us/j/96800976031?pwd=dzlEaFZITmdxRjZxWDBQOXJNWlVrZz09

Passcode: 194573

CFAR-wide webinar: Update from the CFAR Faith & Spirituality Research Collaborative

Monday, March 27th, 2023 | 3:30-4:30pm ET |Zoom

Please join us on Monday March 27th from 3:30-4:30 pm EST for our next CFAR-wide webinar, hosted by the UNC CFAR, and featuring one of the members of our Durham-Duke CFAR Collaborative Community Council, Jimmy Gibbs.

Speakers

• David Haas MD
• Tiye Uhura Link, Ed.D., M.S., MBA
• Rev. Jimmy Gibbs

Registration is required.

Register for the webinar.

Virtual Research Town Hall featuring Dr. Amy Corneli - Best Practices and Resources for Qualitative Research at Duke

Tuesday, March 28th, 2023 | 10-11:30am ET |Zoom

Join The Duke Office of Scientific Integrity for a virtual research town hall where institutional leaders, experts and researchers share best practices and Duke resources to support the conduct of research that relies on qualitative methods.

You will gain insightful perspectives on getting started, methodologic support, and best practices in data management and sharing. Learn about the services offered by the Duke Libraries, the Duke QualCore (Qualitative Research Partners) and the Duke Initiative for Survey Methodology at the Social Sciences Research Institute. Attending this event for at least 60 minutes fulfills the RCR-200 requirement for Faculty and Staff. 

Social & Behavioral Sciences Core Director Dr. Amy Corneli will speak during the Town Hall about resources available to Duke researchers, including the SBS Core and Department of Population Health Sciences QualCore.

Register for the event.

White House’s Harold Phillips’ Recap on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Read reflections from Harold J. Phillips, MRP, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day events that took place last month, including a Live with Leadership conversation.

Read the recap.

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. 

The submission period closes on April 4, 2023.

Learn more about this sample opportunity.

Applications open for Latino Scholars for HIV/AIDS Research Education (SHARE) 2023 summer program - please share

Applications for the Latino Scholars for HIV/AIDS Research Education (SHARE) 2023 summer program are now open! 

This program is an innovative 10-week summer mentored internship and learning experience for eligible undergraduate students from Hispanic/Latino communities. Based in Washington, DC at the George Washington University, this program aims to support Hispanic/Latino undergraduates interested in pursuing further studies and careers in HIV/AIDS and substance abuse-related research. 

SHARE is led by Drs. Carlos Rodríguez-Díaz, David Stoff, and Ana María del Río-González from the Department of Prevention and Community Health in Milken Institute School of Public Health and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at George Washington University. This program is funded through a grant from the National Institute of Health—National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Learn more about the SHARE program and how to apply at https://redcap.link/LatinoSHARE 

The application deadline is March 24, 2023 at 11:59PM (est)

For additional information, please contact Latino_Share@gwu.edu

Please help spread the word about SHARE with undergraduate students and community partners you may know!

Learn more about the program.

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