Miriam Hospital Marks World AIDS Day with Milestone

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Wednesday, December 01, 2010

GoLocalProv Health Team

Over the past 10 years, researchers at Miriam Hospital have conducted about 75 clinical HIV/AIDS trials and has been at the forefront of HIV and immunology research. Now the hospital is celebrating an important research milestone: the tenth anniversary of conducting clinical trials as part of the National Institutes of Health-funded AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG).

Established in 1987, the ACTG supports the largest network of expert clinical and translational investigators and therapeutic clinical trial units in the world, with units serving as the major resource for HIV/AIDS research, treatment, care, and training/education in their communities. The Miriam became an ACTG site in 2000, and since then, researchers have conducted nearly 50 trials in partnership with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Harvard Partners ACTU. At any given time, the team may be involved with as many as 10 ongoing trials. According to researchers, these trials not only advance clinical care for many Rhode Islanders with HIV/AIDS, but they also provide an opportunity for participants to benefit from new treatments that are not yet available to the general public.

Ground-breaking Research

“These studies provide our patients with access to cutting-edge research and medications that are designed to improve their quality of life until effective vaccines and a cure are found,” said Karen Tashima, MD, director of the HIV Clinical Trials Program at The Miriam Hospital. “Over time, our research has evolved to deal with complications of HIV treatment and to test newer generations of HIV therapies, but there’s so much we still don’t know. Our goal is to continue to advance the prevention, detection and treatment of HIV infection and AIDS.”

Current trials include a collaborative protocol with the AIDS Malignancy Consortium and the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Group to assess the efficacy and safety of the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil against specific types of HPV in HIV-infected women. This research is critical because HIV-positive women are not only more likely to be infected with HPV, but they also have a higher rate of cervical cancer, which is caused by HPV.

Rhode Island AIDS Rate Remains at a Standstill

“Although the entire AIDS research community has made significant strides and the rate of HIV and AIDS in this country remains stable, new infections continue at far too high a level, with an estimated 56,300 Americans becoming infected with HIV each year,” said Tashima. “This trend can also be seen here in Rhode Island, where the incidence of HIV has remained steady over the last five years. We hope our research will continue to make an impact and help accelerate our progress against this epidemic.”
 

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