CUNY and Einstein-Montefiore Research Team Receives $9.4 Million to Lead Study of HIV/AIDS Care in Central Africa

The IeDEA Central Africa Regional cohort collaboration is an observational study of patients receiving HIV care in Central Africa. The study includes 46,094 HIV-infected adults and children from 15 sites in Rwanda, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi. Additional research sites are slated to be added in the Republic of Congo. The study aims are to utilize implementation science methods to optimize HIV care outcomes, and to conduct clinical epidemiologic investigations of HIV-related outcomes, co-morbidities of aging, and HIV+ women’s reproductive health in Central Africa.

The study is being led jointly by Dr. Nash and Dr. Kathryn Anastos (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), and includes a consortium of investigators from their institutions, as well as those from Centre National de Reference en Matiere de VIH/SIDA (Burundi), Kinshasa School of Public Health (Democratic Republic of Congo), Kalembelembe Pediatric Hospital, Centre de Traiment Ambulatoire de Pointe Noire and Centre de Traiment Ambulatoire de Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), Research for Development International (Cameroon), Rwanda Military Hospital, Data Solutions, Vanderbilt University, Columbia University, the Ohio State University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Drs. Nash and Anastos have been leading observational HIV studies in the Central African region for over 10 years. This award is a 5 year renewal of the IeDEA Central Africa Regional cohort collaboration.

This is a jointly led project between the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and CUNY. The total award is $9.4 million over 5 years, with $1.9 million of that being granted in Year 1. The majority of the money will be given to the participating clinical sites in Central Africa, while approximately $285,000 per year will support the investigative activities at CUNY. The project is jointly funded by several partners including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).