HIV/AIDS

IAS-NIDA Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in HIV and Drug Use also were announced during the International AIDS Conference, supporting 18 months of training for:

Two NIDA-supported meetings featured international drug abuse research during the XVIII International AIDS Conference, which was held July 18–23, in Vienna, Austria. Prevention and Treatment of HIV and AIDS Among Drug-Using Populations: A Global Perspective was chaired by NIDA AIDS Research Program Director Dr. Jacques Normand and featured presentations by NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow on the neurobiology of drug use and HIV risk behavior; U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Dr.

Kenneth W. Griffin, Ph.D., M.P.H., Weill Cornell Medical College, and Irina Pervova, Ph.D., St. Petersburg State University (SPSU), used Dr. Griffin’s U.S. Distinguished International Scientist Collaboration Award (USDISCA) to conduct key informant interviews and focus groups on the epidemiology, etiology, and prevention activities regarding adolescent substance use in St.

As part of his research into preventing HIV and hepatitis C infections among injection drug users, Pedro Mateu-Gelabert, Ph.D., National Development and Research Institutes, noticed that drug dealers in New York were creating heroin brands by labeling the glassine envelopes in which they distributed the drug. Working with the Social Art Collective in New York City, Dr.

The governments of Tanzania and the United States have announced that the first medication- assisted therapy (MAT) program for drug users in sub-Saharan Africa will begin shortly at two sites in Dar es Salaam and one in Zanzibar. Recognizing that high-risk practices related to drug use contribute to HIV transmission, the Tanzania Drug Control Commission (DCC) has promoted and adopted novel and evidence-based interventions to facilitate improved access to services that prevent HIV among drug users.

In research funded by NIDA and the Fogarty International Center (FIC), Jasmin Vassileva, Ph.D., University of Chicago, is investigating the impact of heroin on neurocognitive function and HIV transmission in Bulgaria. Why Bulgaria? In Chicago, up to 80% of heroin users also use cocaine, making it difficult to isolate the effects of a single drug. In contrast, Bulgarian heroin users are more likely to use only that drug. In addition, both heroin addiction and HIV are major public health problems and research is scarce in the country where Dr. Vassileva was born. Dr.

NIDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have recently issued several funding opportunity announcements of interest to the international drug abuse research community:

During the XIX International AIDS Conference, which was held July 22–27, 2012, in Washington, DC, NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D., joined other National Institutes of Health (NIH) leaders in presenting advances and challenges in AIDS research. Dr.