The Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes recently published a supplement issue focused on a NIMH multi-site HIV/STD prevention trial for African American couples. http://www.jaids.org/pt/re/jaids/toc.00126334-200809011-00000.htm;jsessionid=LHfbsdkCXSpnYKF9D2nJkfsNghJ5vTKYYyL1CRcJ7SJW38dBQnJ6!-1101774500!181195629!8091!-1 .
I thought I would post a few pictures from the International AIDS Conference upon our return. I still see wrap up and commentary news regarding the conference daily, which is exciting. While much of the news stresses that the past couple years haven’t brought us any major ah-has in the world of clinical prevention of HIV or a “cure” for AIDS, what is exciting is the opportunity we have to not only continue to look, but to tie together prevention and treatment in ways we haven’t before. I think this emphasis strengthens our work here at PARTNRS, as researchers working to inform future prevention efforts. On a lighter note, below is a picture of Trace in the latest PARTNRS ad campaign to promote condom use:
Cheers!
I stumbled upon an article in the science times which pointed out a study that was published in the August edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Researchers looked at expectant mothers whose addresses measured a specific distance near highways. While we are well aware that lower-income expectant mothers are much more vulnerable to more risk factors resulting in low birth weight, pre-term births and many other risks, Researchers found that more auspicious mothers-to-be are at a great risk for these factors because of living in a wealthy neighborhood close to a highway.
Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/health/12chil.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
As Trace and I wait for our flight back to the US from our trip to the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, I thought I’d post a few thoughts I had after this experience. It was really rewarding to be around people and chat with people who spoke a similar language. By language I don’t mean English–I am referring to the language around behavioral and prevention research. The opportunity to articulate thoughts about PARTNRS research and learn about others research was outstanding. Being in Mexico City has also motivated me to beef up on my Spanish a bit (or a lot!). Overall, it’s been a great learning experience and I’m ready to keep learning! Buenos tardes!
It has been a very exciting, stimulating, and tiring week here at the IAC. Conference going really wears one out (or maybe it just me). There is so much to see and so many exciting projects being implemented around the world that it is tough to keep up. There are an array of approaches to prevention and most can significantly impact our population of young couples. We can learn from studies from a wide variety of settings and populations. An intervention of commercial sex workers in Bangladesh may have as much of an impact on how we approach prevention with our couples in Connecticut as a couples study in the U.S. does. It reminds me that we need to keep aware of all types of HIV prevention work because you never know what will teach and inspire us. In other conference happenings, Anna did a fabulous job on the first global presentation of PARTNRS work. The poster was great and well received. For those of you in the New Haven area, feel free to visit it in the Yale PARTNRS project offices, where it will be permanantly displayed starting Monday.