The Institute of Human Virology, a center of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Center and an affiliate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, has become a designated site of the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (AACTG) of the National Institutes of Health.
The Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group, created in 1987, is the largest HIV clinical trials network in the world and plays a major role in setting standards of care for HIV infection and opportunistic diseases related to HIV/AIDS in the United States and the developed world. A program of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Division of AIDS, the AACTG has been pivotal in providing the data necessary for the approval of a number of therapeutic agents, as well as the treatment and prevention strategies, for many opportunistic infections and malignancies. The AACTG is composed of, and directed by, leading clinical scientists in HIV/AIDS therapeutic research. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the IHV?s Clinical Care and Research Division, will serve as principle investigator for the new IHV/AACTG site.
?We are delighted to have the Institute of Human Virology join the AACTG network and look forward to their contributions to the AACTG scientific agenda,? says Dr. Constance Benson, chair of the AACTG Executive Committee.
?The persistent epidemic in Baltimore, the continued enrollment of new patients for primary HIV care into IHV clinics (more than 50 per month), the demonstrated ability to enroll and retain under-represented minorities into HIV therapeutic clinical trials, the demonstrated ability to move laboratory-based research into the clinic and the wealth of scientific expertise at the IHV, together highlight the potential for this new AACTG site,? says Dr. Benson. ?The IHV,? she adds, ?joins Johns Hopkins University to provide the Baltimore region with two designated AACTG sites dedicated to AIDS treatment research.?
Baltimore is one of the major epicenters of the U.S. HIV epidemic with between 3.9 percent and 5.3 percent of all city residents aged 30-49 HIV infected. In a recent report, the Baltimore City Council Commission on HIV and AIDS Prevention and Treatment classified the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the city a State of Emergency.
?This NIH designation,? says Dr. Redfield, ?enhances the Institute?s clinical research efforts aimed at developing, testing and refining new drugs and novel therapeutic approaches against HIV/AIDS.? The IHV has been awarded a $750,000 grant to build the infrastructure needs of the program, hire support staff and integrate key IHV investigators into the research agenda of the AACTG.
The Institute of Human Virology, under the leadership of world-renowned AIDS researcher Dr. Robert C. Gallo, opened its doors in 1996 and is dedicated to the discovery, research, treatment and prevention of chronic viral diseases. Located in the heart of the HIV epidemic in West Baltimore, the IHV?s patient base has grown from approximately 200 patients six years ago to nearly 3,000 today.
In November 1999, the Clinical Care and Research Division opened a 5,000-square-foot outpatient clinical research unit (CRU), dedicated to provide state of the art clinical research opportunities for patients living with chronic viral pathogens and to provide the latest scientific breakthroughs to patient volunteers in an ethical and rigorous manner. To date, the unit has conducted more than 30 clinical trials and enrolled and retained more than 200 volunteers in therapeutic product development protocols, a majority who were African-Americans. At the IHV, 87 percent of patients are African-American and 34 percent are women of child-bearing age. More than 50 new patients are treated each month in the IHV?s clinical care program.
In response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Baltimore, the IHV?s clinical care and research division has increased its clinical capacity to include three separate HIV clinics, expanded hours and hospital admissions.
?Essential to our continued success are the ability to actively engage people of all races and genders living with HIV infection into the proposed clinical trials so that the trials appropriately reflect the HIV infected community,? says Dr. Redfield, ?and, secondly, to foster the development and evaluation of new drugs and innovative treatment approaches so that the progress witnessed to date will continue until a simple, durable, non-toxic, life-long, successful treatment is available for all persons living with HIV infection worldwide.?
For more information, visit www.ihv.org
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