CONTACT: Ken Frager, IHV410-706-4616[email protected] or
Robin Herman, HSPH617-432-4752[email protected]
For Immediate Release:IHV JOINS HARVARD AIDS INITIATIVE IN NIGERIA
BALTIMORE, Md. ---The Institute of Human Virology (IHV), a center of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI), has joined the Nigeria AIDS Prevention Initiative of the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), to reach groups in Nigeria who are at higher risk for HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The Harvard initiative, which has received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will implement prevention and intervention programs while gathering epidemiological information on the high-risk populations and finding evidence for principal means of transmission. The data will be valuable in public education efforts and in the development of prevention strategies and preparation for vaccine trials.
Funding for the IHV's work will include approximately $800,000 to the IHV for the first 18 months, with extended funding based on achieving certain milestones. The Harvard group, which has demonstrated success in HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Senegal, Botswana, Tanzania, and Thailand, now hopes to enact similar programs in Nigeria.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with the Harvard School of Public Health on this initiative," said Jennie Hunter-Cevera, UMBI president. "The IHV's contributions are a direct reflection of the outstanding work Dr. Robert Gallo and Dr. Alash'le Abimiku have been a part of for more than a decade, when they first established the International Collaboration for Scientific Culture - World Laboratory (ICSC-WL) AIDS Research Center in Nigeria. It was this initial collaboration with ICSC-WL that really opened the doors for IHV researchers to work in Nigeria and other African countries." Gallo is the director of the IHV and project Principal Investigator. Abimiku, an assistant professor in the IHV's Division of Epidemiology and Prevention, will serve as co-PI, under the leadership of Dr. William Blattner, director of the division.
Nearly two-thirds of the project funds during the first phase of IHV's involvement in this Initiative will be used directly for efforts taking place in Nigeria. The remainder will cover associated work at the IHV in Baltimore.
"Dr. Gallo and his team are committed to using this generous grant from the AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria where it is needed most," said Hunter-Cevera. The project, which extends an existing collaboration between scientists at HSPH, the IHV, Plateau State Hospital, and the University of Jos, will provide relevant information on the prevalence, incidence, and dynamics of the HIV epidemic in the Plateau State of Nigeria. Through active technology transfer, in-country workshops, and operational research, the project will seek to develop and support the diagnostic capabilities of the STD laboratory at the Jos University Teaching Hospital. The laboratory will be instrumental in the planned intervention trials aimed at reducing the transmission of HIV and other STDs in high-risk populations. The Jos University Teaching Hospital is the main tertiary hospital in the middle belt zone of Nigeria, serving a population of nearly 10 million people in the Plateau State and surrounding areas. A significant number of the patients seen at the hospital's STD Clinic are miners and commercial sex workers, among the higher-risk groups for HIV and STDs.
"We are very proud of the relationships we have developed and maintained during our involvement in Nigeria, and more specifically with the University of Jos," said Gallo. "Dr. Abimiku, who is originally from the region, has been active in gaining acceptance for our involvement in the region and has invested substantial efforts to improve the conditions, particularly while the previous government was slow to respond. Under the new political leadership her efforts have been magnified and significantly more effective," added Gallo.
The AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria, a collaboration of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kennedy School of Government, is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and universities in Nigeria.
The Institute of Human Virology was established to create and develop a world-class center of excellence focusing on chronic viral diseases and virally-linked cancers. The IHV is dedicated to discovery, research, treatment, and prevention of these diseases and cancers. Its unique structure seeks to connect cohesive, multidisciplinary research and clinical programs so that new treatments are streamlined from discovery to patient. The IHV serves patients locally and the scientific community globally. As one of five UMBI research and education centers, the Institute of Human Virology was formed in 1996 as a partnership between the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore, the University of Maryland System, and the University of Maryland Medical System.
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