What's New? Updates from the CFAR

Duke CFAR Newsletter - April 13, 2022


In this newsletter:

News from the CFAR

Upcoming Events

Newly Published

In case you missed it

Tweet from the CDC. Text reads "A new report examines social determinants of health for adults in the U.S. with diagnosed #HIV.  These data may be used to focus resources on populations disproportionately affected by HIV and achieve more equitable health outcomes.   Learn more: https://bit.ly/3wKLALk"

News from the CFAR

Photo of Dr. Le with quote " "This Tropical Medicine Research Center for Talaromycosis award represents a personal milestone for me as a scientist – to seek beyond project-based funding to funding that will build laboratory infrastructure and clinical research capacity for future generations of scientists in this neglected area of research.   The TMRC award also represents an important milestone for the disease, as we will be 1 of 8 NIH-funded Tropical Medicine Research Centers in the world that conduct research on the Neglected Tropical Diseases."

Dr. Thuy Le and team to address a leading cause of HIV-associated death in Southeast Asia through NIH U01 award


Congratulations to Dr. Thuy Le, an Associate Director of the Duke CFAR Clinical Core, who received a 2.5-million dollar NIH U01 award to develop a Tropical Medicine Research Center (TMRC) for talaromycosis in Vietnam. Talaromycosis is an invasive fungal infection endemic in countries in Southeast Asia and is a leading cause of death in patients with advanced HIV disease. Current diagnosis relies on culturing the fungus from patients' specimens, which has low yield and takes up to 2 weeks, leading to treatment delay and a mortality despite antifungal therapy of 30%. The TMRC award will enable Dr. Le to partner with Vietnamese researchers at the Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to build the laboratory and clinical research capacity to advance a diagnostic pipeline for talaromycosis. Through the award, they will work to enable early diagnosis and treatment of talaromycosis, and thus to reduce a leading cause of HIV-associated death.


The U01 is one of the eight Tropical Medicine Research Centers funded by the NIH in the world, and is an important step for talaromycosis to be recognized as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) at the NIH.  


Read more about the U01 award on our website.

Upcoming Events

Join CFAR colleagues for the April CFAR-wide webinar hosted by UNC


Monday, April 25, 2022 | 3:30pm ET

Presenter: Carl Dieffenbach, Ph.D.


Register for the webinar.

Zoom Symposium on the Avant-Garde Award Program for HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Disorder Research


Wednesday May 18, 2022 | 1-4pm ET


The NIDA HIV Research Program invites you to a symposium with awardees of the Avant-Garde Award Program for HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Disorder Research, supporting innovative research into new areas of HIV prevention and treatment among people who use drugs, featuring:

  • Dolores Albarracín, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania – Annenberg School for Communication
  • Jeremy Luban, M.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School
  • Eric Verdin, M.D., Buck Institute for Research on Aging
  • Tariq Rana, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego – Institute for Genomic Medicine


Learn more about the Avant-Garde Award and register for the Zoom symposium.

Newly Published

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the HIV Stigmatizing Attitudes Scale (HSAS) in Tanzania.

Sao SS, Minja L, Vissoci JRN, Watt MH.

AIDS Behav. 2022 May;26(5):1530-1543. doi: 10.1007/s10461-021-03506-3.


Using Participatory Methods to Assess PrEP Interest and Uptake Among Young People Living in the Southeastern US: A Mixed Methods Assessment.

Stoner MCD, Bhushan NL, Maragh-Bass AC, Mitchell JT, Riggins L, Walker M, LeMasters K, Reese B, Dearing A, Debnam S, Golin C, Lightfoot AF, Pettifor A.

AIDS Behav. 2022 May;26(5):1672-1683. doi: 10.1007/s10461-021-03519-y.


Correlates of Blood Pressure Awareness, Treatment, and Control Among Adults 50 Years or Older by HIV Status in Northwestern Tanzania.

Muiruri C, Wajanga B, Kim C, Knettel BA, Mhina CJ, Bartlett JA, Msangi JJ, Msabah MA, Vilme H, Kalluvya S.

Curr Hypertens Rep. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1007/s11906-022-01188-3.


Exploring Resilience Among Black Women Living With HIV in the Southern United States: Findings From a Qualitative Study.

Koch A, Ritchwood TD, Bailey DE Jr, Caiola CE, Adimora AA, Ramirez C, Holt L, Johnson R, McGee K, McMillian-Bohler JM, Randolph SD, Relf MV.

J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. 2022 Mar-Apr 01;33(2):224-234. doi: 10.1097/JNC.0000000000000311.


Non-diphtheriae Corynebacterium species are associated with decreased risk of pneumococcal colonization during infancy.

Kelly MS, Plunkett C, Yu Y, Aquino JN, Patel SM, Hurst JH, Young RR, Smieja M, Steenhoff AP, Arscott-Mills T, Feemster KA, Boiditswe S, Leburu T, Mazhani T, Patel MZ, Rawls JF, Jawahar J, Shah SS, Polage CR, Cunningham CK, Seed PC.

ISME J. 2022 Mar;16(3):655-665. doi: 10.1038/s41396-021-01108-4.


Vaccine-Induced, High-Magnitude HIV Env-Specific Antibodies with Fc-Mediated Effector Functions Are Insufficient to Protect Infant Rhesus Macaques against Oral SHIV Infection.

Curtis AD 2nd, Saha PT, Dennis M, Berendam SJ, Ramasubramanian P, Cross KA, Alam SM, Ferrari G, Kozlowski PA, Fouda GG, Hudgens MG, Van Rompay KKA, Pollara J, Permar SR, De Paris K.

mSphere. 2022 Feb 23;7(1):e0083921. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00839-21.


A group-based mental health intervention for Tanzanian youth living with HIV: Secondary analysis of a pilot trial.

Hosaka KRJ, Mmbaga BT, Shayo AM, Gallis JA, Turner EL, O'Donnell KE, Cunningham CK, Boshe J, Dow DE.

Medicine (Baltimore). 2022 Feb 18;101(7):e28693. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000028693.


Don't see your paper listed? Make sure your publication is linked to the CFAR grant for funding. Visit the CFAR website for example text to use when acknowledging the CFAR and assistance by its Cores in your publications, abstracts, grant proposals, and presentations.

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