Former NIDA International fellows and their international partners have published findings from research funded through RFA-DA-10-008, International Research Collaborations on HIV/AIDS and Drug Use. The funding opportunity was issued to stimulate collaborative research among foreign investigators from the same geographic regions to address regional issues on the intersection of HIV/AIDS and drug use in international settings. The articles include:
- Sergei Dvoryak, M.D., Ph.D., a 2001–2001 NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey Drug Abuse Research Fellow and 2010 INVEST/Clinical Trials Network Drug Abuse Research Fellow, is the Ukrainian principal investigator on a grant investigating HIV among prisoners in Ukraine. Dr. Dvoryak and colleagues found that half of HIV-positive prisoners were unaware of their status, and that injection drug use, being female, and having been incarcerated previously were all correlated with HIV infection. In the Journal of the International AIDS Society, the team recommends that HIV testing be conducted routinely for prisoners, and that opioid substitution and antiretroviral therapy be expanded in Ukraine.
- An article in the Journal of Addiction was written by researchers from the United States, Russia, and two fellows from the Republic of Georgia, 2003–2004 NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey Drug Abuse Research Fellow David Otiashvili, M.D., and 2014 Distinguished International Scientist Collaboration Awardee Irma Kirtadze, M.D. The authors described a series of preliminary studies conducted as the team began developing a culturally sensitive, women-focused, comprehensive treatment program for Georgian women who inject drugs. The international team concluded that mixed methods research investigating the role of Georgian culture in perceived drug treatment needs and risky drug use and sexual behaviors was a crucial step in designing the feasibility and initial efficacy trials now underway.