Tag Archives: hiv

Mutation Breaks HIV’s Resistance to Drugs, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostSeptember 22, 2012Health172k, 172k mutation, aids, atsuko hachiya, cellular machinery, drug, hiv, hiv strain, hiv-infected, human, immunodeficiency, inhibitors, missouri, mutation, nnrtis, non nucleoside, nrtis, nucleoside, patient, polymorphism, resistant, reverse, stefan sarafianos, transcriptase, university, virus

Doctors can improve treatment programs using this knowledge

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can contain dozens of different mutations, called polymorphisms. In a recent study an international team of researchers, including University of Missouri scientists, found that one of those mutations, called 172K, made certain forms of the virus more susceptible to treatment. Soon, doctors will be able to use this knowledge to improve the drug regimen they prescribe to HIV-infected individuals.

“The 172K polymorphism makes certain forms of HIV less resistant to drugs,” said Stefan Sarafianos, corresponding author of the study and a researcher at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center. “172K doesn’t affect the virus’ normal activities. In some varieties of HIV that have developed resistance to drugs, when the 172K mutation is present, resistance to two classes of anti-HIV drugs is suppressed. We estimate up to 3 percent of HIV strains carry the 172K polymorphism.” (more…)

Researchers Come a Step Closer to Finding HIV Vaccine

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2012Healthgenetic signature, heterosexual, hiv, hiv 1 vaccine, hiv research, immune response, men, morgane rolland, program, protein, strain, us military, v2 region, women

Scientists used genetic sequencing to discover that the vaccine used in the RV144 HIV vaccine trial, involving 16,000 men and women in Thailand, did offer some protection against certain HIV viruses. The results were published Sept. 10 in the online edition of Nature.

James Mullins, UW professor of microbiology, medicine and laboratory medicine, leads one of the two laboratories that did genetic analyses of the virus. He said the study proved that an HIV vaccine is within reach. (more…)

Model Shows Dramatic Global Decline in Ratio of Workers to Retired People

By Guest PostAugust 26, 2012Economy, General, Politicsadrian raftery, aids epidemics, bayesian statistical approach, China, developed countries, elderly adults, fertility rate, gerhard heilig, hana sevcikova, hiv, India, nan li, Netherlands, patrick gerland, population prediction, prediction, statistical method, statistical model, united kingdom, united nations, united states, university of washington, working age adult, worldwide phenomenon

A new statistical model predicts that by 2100 the number of people older than 85 worldwide will increase more than previously estimated, and there will be fewer working-age adults to support them than previously expected.

The findings, reported by researchers at the University of Washington and the United Nations, suggest an even greater decrease in the coming decades in support for social security programs for elderly adults.

Lead author Adrian Raftery, UW professor of statistics and sociology, was surprised by how dramatically the proportion of the world’s “oldest old” will increase by the end of the century. (more…)

Groundbreaking Research Paves Way for HIV Prevention Drug Approval

By Guest PostJuly 15, 2012Healthafrica, antiretroviral drugs, connie celum, fda, hiv, hiv infection, hiv prevention, hiv treatment, hiv vaccine, hiv-positive, jared baeten, Kenya, kenya puppets, nelly mugo, partners prep, placebo, prevention drug, tenofovir, thika, truvada, uganda

For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering approving a drug that helps prevent someone from acquiring HIV. It’s called Truvada, and has been approved for use since 2004 to treat infected people.

Now it has been shown to protect healthy people who are exposed to HIV. The UW’s International Clinical Research Center, within the Department of Global Health, played a key role in examining the drug’s effectiveness for HIV prevention.

Researchers Connie Celum and Jared Baeten led a study, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, of pre-exposure prophylaxis among heterosexual couples in Kenya and Uganda. One partner had HIV (and was not yet eligible for HIV treatment) and the other partner did not have HIV. Uninfected partners were given either Truvada or Tenofovir (both antiretroviral drugs) or a placebo. (more…)

Modern Defense

By Guest PostJune 26, 2012Education, Generalafrican countries, burt abrams, business strategy, cita, economic development, economic growth, fdi, foreign direct investment, france, gdp growth, hiv, hiv situation, internet, jim butkiewicz, laurence seidman, light, modern defense, newark campus, parameter, pearson hall, robert schweitzer, samuel mathey, sheldon demby, skype, speed of connection, stacy weile, time lag, university of delaware, video conference, voice, west africa

First UD student successfully defends doctoral dissertation via Skype

Samuel Mathey, a graduate student in the Department of Economics at the University of Delaware, has become the first doctoral student in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics to successfully defend a dissertation via Skype.

On Tuesday, June 12, Mathey’s dissertation committee sat in a Pearson Hall video conference room on UD’s Newark campus while he attended his defense virtually from France.

Committee members for Mathey’s defense included Burt Abrams (chair), professor of economics; Jim Butkiewicz, professor of economics; Laurence Seidman, professor of economics; and Robert Schweitzer, professor of finance. (more…)

Combating Global Problems at BIARI

By Guest PostJune 22, 2012Environment, General, Scienceaids, ambedkar university delhi, anita elizabeth cherian, armed conflict, barbara willaarts, biari, botin foundation, brazil, brown university, cape town, China, chinese cities, civil society, climate change, courtney coelho, development, end project evaluation, environmental awareness, ethiopia, global problem, grass stage theatre, hiv, hiv awareness, India, junia quiroga de cuhan, kathamandu university, ke zhang, latin america, laureate universities, maria cecelia trannin, nepal, new delhi, nigeria, peking university, population, qing hui hou, rebecca hodes, rio de janeiro, rukmini sen, sagar sharma, shimla, South Africa, university, yunnan province, zheng xie

Some 140 participants and 30 visiting faculty from more than 45 countries arrived at Brown to take part in the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BIARI). The two-week program began June 11, 2012.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Some 140 participants and 30 visiting faculty from more than 45 countries arrived at Brown to take part in the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BIARI). Participants, who were chosen from a pool of more than 850 applicants, come from several countries, including Brazil, China, Nigeria, India, and Ethiopia.

The two-week program began Monday, June 11, 2012. Now in its fourth year, BIARI is centered around four two-week intensive institutes, convened concurrently by Brown faculty, in which participants and leading scholars in their fields share their research and develop new collaborative projects through sustained, high-level dialogue spanning disciplines and continents. This year’s institutes touched on global health and HIV/AIDS; theater and civil society; population and development; and climate change. (more…)

A SMART(er) Way to Track Influenza

By Guest PostJune 12, 2012Scienceaartik sarma, amplification, andrew artenstein, anubhav tripathi, biological debris, brown assay, brown university, carmichael ong, DNA, first aid kit, flu detection test, genetic sequence, H1N1, hiv, influenza rna, influenza rna sequence, iPhone, magnetics, memorial hospital, microfluidics, nasba, nucleic acid sequence, pigs, polymerase chain reaction, prototype, rhode island, rna partners, rna probe, rna strand, smart, smart detector, stephanie mccalla, steven opal, swine flu, tb, tracking of influenza, tuberculosis, united states, virus in mexico

Brown University researchers have created a reliable and fast flu-detection test that can be carried in a first-aid kit. The novel prototype device isolates influenza RNA using a combination of magnetics and microfluidics, then amplifies and detects probes bound to the RNA. The technology could lead to real-time tracking of influenza. Results are published in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In April 2009, the world took notice as reports surfaced of a virus in Mexico that had mutated from pigs and was being passed from human to human. The H1N1 “swine flu,” as the virus was named, circulated worldwide, killing more than 18,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States said it was the first global pandemic in more than four decades. (more…)

Clergy can fight HIV on faith-friendly terms

By Guest PostMay 20, 2012Culture, Healthafrican american, african american clergy, aids epidemic, amy nunn, black americans, black clergy, blacks, brown university, hiv, hiv infection, hiv prevention, michelle lally, miriam hospital, philadelphia, sex, sexuality, tim flanigan, united states

In the United States, where blacks bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, black religious institutions could help turn the tide. In a new study in PLoS ONE based on dozens of interviews and focus groups with 38 of Philadelphia’s most influential black clergy, physicians and public health researchers find that traditional barriers to preaching about HIV prevention could give way to faith-friendly messages about getting tested and staying on treatment.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The public health community has long struggled with how best to reduce HIV infection rates among black Americans, which is seven times that of whites. In a new paper in the journal PLoS ONE, a team of physicians and public health researchers report that African-American clergy say they are ready to join the fight against the disease by focusing on HIV testing, treatment, and social justice, a strategy that is compatible with religious teaching. (more…)