DC CFAR Investigator, Irene Kuo, PhD, along with her colleagues, has published an article in AIDS and Behavior entitled, "Use of an mHealth Intervention to Improve Engagement in HIV Community-Based Care Among Persons Recently Released from a Correctional Facility in Washington, DC: A Pilot Study". This article discusses a study that examined the effectiveness of an intervention that used a virtual counseling session in addition to a post-incarceration text messaging intervention (CARE and Corrections) in promoting ART adherence and engagement in community care among recently incarcerated persons with HIV living in Washington, DC. The study found a positive but non-significant association of viral suppression in the CARE and Corrections group, and care engagement increased in both groups after 6 months.
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DC CFAR Investigator, Mimi Ghosh, PhD, MS, has published an article in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses entitled, "Dysregulation in genital tract soluble immune mediators in postmenopausal women is distinct by HIV status".The article discusses a study that used the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) repository to examine immune functions in the genital tracts of HIV-positive postmenopausal women, and the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on those immune functions. The study found that among HIV-positive women, plasma viral load was significantly higher and CD4 count was significantly lower in postmenopausal compared to premenopausal women. Additionally, postmenopausal women, irrespective of HIV status, had significantly lower levels of Human beta defensin-2 (HBD2) compared to premenopausal women. The authors conclude that their findings indicate that the female genital tract immune microenvironment is distinct by menopausal and by HIV status.
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DC CFAR Investigator, Manya Magnus, PhD, along with her colleagues, has published an article in Clinical Infectious Diseases entitled, "Incidence and Correlates of STIs among Black Men who have Sex with Men Participating in the HPTN 073 PrEP Study". This article discusses the HPTN 073 study that examined the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for Black men who have sex with men (BMSM). The purpose of the analysis discussed in this paper was to characterize the relationship between PrEP uptake and use, and incident STIs among participants enrolled in HPTN 073. The study found higher rates of sexually transmitted infections in younger BMSM, and that the overall rates of STI in this trial were lower than in previous PrEP trials, with no increase over time.
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