COLUMBIA RESEARCH UNIT

Our goals are to help speed the development of effective vaccines to prevent HIV and to set the standard of care for people living with HIV/AIDS. We conduct clinical studies within the Division of Infectious Diseases at Columbia University Medical...

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Sergio has his #HeartOn! Thank you for your work in #HIVPrevention #ColumbiaResearchUnit #CRUOfficeFun (at Parrilla Latin Bistro)

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Thank you for your time with us Sergio! #ColumbiaResearchUnit #RAMPScholar #farewell (at Parrilla Latin Bistro)

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En #LaVentanillaDeSalud del Consulado General de Mexico con amigos. #Salud #ColumbiaResearchUnit #PrevencionDelVIH (at Consulado General de Mexico)

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LOOKING FOR HIV-NEG TRANS MEN TO JOIN FOCUS GROUP IN NYC

Columbia University Medical Center and Project ACHIEVE are looking for trans men for focus groups. We’d like to find out how you think about studies involving vaccines and other ways to prevent HIV. We are looking for individuals who are at least 18 years old and who are HIV-negative. Your opinions will be used in research to understand awareness of and recruitment for HIV vaccine studies. The focus group will last 2-3 hours and will take place at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

**There are only TWO focus groups remaining: Sept. 22 and Sept 24.**

Participants will receive $50 for their time and travel.

All information is kept STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. To see if you qualify, please call us at 212-305-2201 OR visit the following URL to fill out a brief online survey: tinyurl.com/FG4TRANSMEN.

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LOOKING FOR HIV-NEG TRANS MEN TO JOIN FOCUS GROUP IN NYC

Columbia University Medical Center and Project ACHIEVE are looking for trans men for focus groups. We’d like to find out how you think about studies involving vaccines and other ways to prevent HIV. We are looking for individuals who are at least 18 years old and who are HIV-negative. Your opinions will be used in research to understand awareness of and recruitment for HIV vaccine studies. The focus group will last 2-3 hours and will take place at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

**There are only TWO focus groups remaining: Sept. 22 and Sept 24.**

Participants will receive $50 for their time and travel.

All information is kept STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. To see if you qualify, please call us at 212-305-2201 OR visit the following URL to fill out a brief online survey: tinyurl.com/FG4TRANSMEN.

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Anti-HIV antibodies as therapy

Recently, researchers at Rockefeller University and Caltech have found one type of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAb) that does more. It can prevent both types of infection: the virus that is flowing past the CD4 cell as well as the virus that is spread by contact from one cell to another. This bNAb, 8ANC195, could be used to essentially stop the spread of HIV in an infected human, maintaining his other CD4 cells in their native, pristine state. Then other drugs (antiretrovirals, other antibodies, other drugs) could be used to wipe out the remaining HIV in the patient over time. A clinical trial using bNAbs is underway. It is not using 8ANC195, but that antibody may be used in a trial in the near future.

SOURCE: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867415010879

SOURCE: http://americablog.com/2015/09/a-few-updates-on-hiv-research.html

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LOOKING FOR HIV-NEG TRANSMEN TO JOIN A FOCUS GROUP IN NYC

Columbia University Medical Center and Project ACHIEVE are looking for transmen for focus groups. We’d like to find out how you think about studies involving vaccines and other ways to prevent HIV. We are looking for individuals who are at least 18 years old and who are HIV-negative. Your opinions will be used in research to understand awareness of and recruitment for HIV vaccine studies. The focus group will last 2-3 hours and will take place at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.  

**There are only THREE focus groups remaining in this study: Sept. 14, Sept. 22, and Sept 24.**

Participants will receive $50 for their time and travel.

All information is kept STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. To see if you qualify, please call us at 212-305-2201 OR visit the following URL to fill out a brief online survey: tinyurl.com/FG4TRANSMEN.

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No New HIV Infections with Increasing Use of HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis in a Clinical Practice Setting

Of the 657 PrEP initiators, 187 were diagnosed with at least one STI during follow-up; 78 individuals were diagnosed with multiple STIs (range 2-10), for a total of 344 STI diagnoses. After six months of PrEP use, 30% of PrEP users were diagnosed with any STI (95% confidence interval [CI]: 26-35%), 18% with a rectal STI (95% CI: 14-22%), 17% with chlamydia (95% CI: 14-21%), 15% with gonorrhea (95% CI: 12-19%), and 3.3% with syphilis (95% CI: 1.9-5.6%). After 12 months of PrEP use, 50% of PrEP users were diagnosed with any STI (95% CI: 43-56%), 33% with a rectal STI (95% CI: 27-39%), 33% with chlamydia (95% CI: 27-39%), 28% with gonorrhea (95% CI: 23-34%), and 5.5% with syphilis (95% CI: 3.3-9.1%). There were no HIV diagnoses during the 388 person-years of follow-up (upper limit of one-sided 97.5% CI: 1.0%).

SOURCE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26334052?dop=Abstract

CITATION: Jonathan E. Volk, Julia L. Marcus, Tony Phengrasamy, Derek Blechinger, Dong Phuong Nguyen, Stephen Follansbee, and C. Bradley Hare. No New HIV Infections with Increasing Use of HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis in a Clinical Practice Setting. Clin Infect Dis. first published online September 1, 2015 doi:10.1093/cid/civ778.

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LOOKING FOR HIV-NEG TRANSMEN TO JOIN A FOCUS GROUP IN NYC

Columbia University Medical Center and Project ACHIEVE are looking for transmen for focus groups. We’d like to find out how you think about studies involving vaccines and other ways to prevent HIV. We are looking for individuals who are at least 18 years old and who are HIV-negative. Your opinions will be used in research to understand awareness of and recruitment for HIV vaccine studies. The focus group will last 2-3 hours and will take place at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.  

**There are only THREE focus groups remaining in this study: Sept. 14, Sept. 22, and Sept 24.**

Participants will receive $50 for their time and travel.

All information is kept STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. To see if you qualify, please call us at 212-305-2201 OR visit the following URL to fill out a brief online survey: tinyurl.com/FG4TRANSMEN.

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Where Do I Fit In? PrEP and Transgender Men

When I read results from clinical trials about PrEP—or other HIV prevention tools or strategies for that matter—I’m often left wondering: Where do I fit in? There aren’t guidelines about Truvada-based PrEP use for transgender men who have sex with men because there haven’t been any studies specifically looking at how the drug works in our bodies.

SOURCE: http://www.thebody.com/content/76236/a-trans-man-discusses-prep-and-condomless-casual-s.html

Brandyn Gallagher, a Seattle-based activist and community servant, has devoted his life to the redistribution of happiness by raising awareness about HIV stigma, social justice, and the struggles of queer and gay people in pursuit of equitable healthcare access. His strong voice in addressing the limitations of sexual health resources for trans men has resulted in significant improvements to HIV prevention research methods and study design internationally.

READ MORE ABOUT BRANDYN: http://brandyngallagher.com

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LOOKING FOR HIV-NEG TRANSMEN TO JOIN A FOCUS GROUP IN NYC

Columbia University Medical Center and Project ACHIEVE are looking for transmen for focus groups. We’d like to find out how you think about studies involving vaccines and other ways to prevent HIV. We are looking for individuals who are at least 18 years old and who are HIV-negative. Your opinions will be used in research to understand awareness of and recruitment for HIV vaccine studies. The focus group will last 2-3 hours and will take place at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.  

**There are only THREE focus groups remaining in this study: Sept. 14, Sept. 22, and Sept 24.**

Participants will receive $50 for their time and travel.

All information is kept STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. To see if you qualify, please call us at 212-305-2201 OR visit the following URL to fill out a brief online survey: tinyurl.com/FG4TRANSMEN.

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VICE Reports: “Stopping HIV? The Truvada Revolution”

A drug called Truvada is the first FDA-approved means of preventing HIV infection. If an HIV-negative person takes the pill every day, he or she is nearly 99 percent protected from contracting the virus. Controversy continues to surround the broad uptake of Truvada, but the landscape of safer sex and HIV prevention changes fundamentally from this point forward—particularly within the gay male community, the population hit hardest by HIV in America. In this episode of VICE Reports, VICE explores the future of the Truvada and its revolutionary impact on ending HIV/AIDS. 

VICE. "Stopping HIV? The Truvada Revolution (Full Length)." YouTube.  

             YouTube, 26 June 2015. Web. 04 Sept. 2015. 

              <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsEgg6EOpNM>.

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Fear Sex: PrEP and HIV | First Person #12 | PBS Digital Studios

In the twelfth episode of PBS Digital Studios' First Person, Fear Sex: PrEP and HIV, host Kristin Russo talks with Jermaine McCrossin, a gay male living in New York who recently began taking Truvada as PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) about HIV/AIDS, fear around sex and his work with the organization Project Achieve.

Brought to you by PBS Digital Studios and WNET Interactive Engagement Group. Special thanks to Jermaine McCrossin and the The New York City Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender Community Center.

PROJECT ACHIEVE Twitter: https://twitter.com/achievenyc

NYC LGBT Community Center‎ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lgbtcenternyc

Executive Producers: Daniel B. Greenberg Joe Harrell 

Host and Producer: Kristin RussoProducer, 

Director: Meredith HeilDP, 

Editor: Steve W. Thompson 2nd Camera, 

Intern: Marc Baill Sound, 

PA: Chie Miyajima

Mixed at: Nice Manners by Joanna Katcher 

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FOCUS GROUP STUDY ON HIV PREVENTION: LOOKING FOR HIV-NEG TRANSGENDER MEN IN NYC-NJ-CT

Columbia University Medical Center and Project ACHIEVE are looking for transmen for focus groups. We’d like to find out how you think about studies involving vaccines and other ways to prevent HIV. We are looking for individuals who are at least 18 years old and who are HIV-NEG. Your opinions will be used in research to understand awareness of and recruitment for HIV vaccine studies. The focus group will last 2-3 hours and will take place in New York City. 

Participants will receive $50 & light dinner.

We have THREE upcoming focus groups on SEPTEMBER 14, 22 & 24th. Want to know if you are eligible to join our study? Fill out this short online questionnaire: tinyurl.com/FG4TRANSMEN If you qualify, we will contact you with an invitation to join one of our groups.

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Novel HIV vaccine regimen provides robust protection in non-human primates

A new study shows than an HIV-1 vaccine regimen, involving a viral vector boosted with a purified envelope protein, provided complete protection in half of the vaccinated non-human primates (NHPs) against a series of six repeated challenges with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a virus similar to HIV that infects NHPs.

SOURCE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150702151258.htm

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Few gay teenage boys get tested for HIV

Teens fear being recognized and don't know where to get tested

HIV infections are rising for young men who have sex with men, but only one in five gay male teens have ever been tested for HIV, reports a new study. The reason is teens don't know where to get an HIV test and worry about being recognized at a testing site. Testing is critical because it can help those who are positive receive lifesaving medical care and prevent them from transmitting the virus.

SOURCE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150826081718.htm

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PrEP, short for pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a relatively new HIV prevention strategy in which an HIV-negative person takes a daily pill to reduce the risk for HIV infection. PrEP has made headlines recently—and the messages haven't always been clear. Watch this video to get the facts about how PrEP works and see three PrEP myths busted.

“Demystifying HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis” by YourekaScience © 2013 | All Rights Reserved, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed) license.