News

July 2010

President Barack Obama announced the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). The development of the Strategy was headed up by the Office of National AIDS Policy. The three major goals of the NHAS was to reduce infection rates, increase access to care, and reduce related health disparities among infected persons.
Executive Summary , Strategy , Implementation  Link

MAPI Institute is sponsoring the Catherine Pouget Prize 2010   Link

June 2010

California HIV/AIDS Research Program (CHRP) 2010 Call for Applications  Link

Notice of Intent to Publish a Request for Applications for NIAAA Collaborative Centers for HIV/AIDS and Alcohol Outcomes Research (U01, U24) Link

May 2010

The Center for Quality Management in Public Health, Public Health Strategic Health Care Group is pleased to announce that the Clinical Case Registry (CCR) reportsfor HIV care in 2009 are now available on the VA intranet. Link  (please note, you must view this from a VA computer) These reports cover several aspects of patient demographics, ARV treatment rates and other important clinical topics related to HIV care.  We urge you to review this clinical information for your station, VISN and nationally. As you will see, there are over 24,000 Veterans who have been diagnosed with HIV and are in care nationwide in 2009.

VACS Publicity

Public Health Strategic Healthcare Group Newsletter, "Public Health Matters ".  This issue is devoted entirely to the topic of HIV/AIDS in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).  Currently, there are over 23,000 Veterans in care for their HIV disease in the VHA, which makes PHSHG the largest provider of health services for HIV infected persons in the United States.  

WXXI EARNS TWO TELLY AWARDS FOR ITS NATIONAL TV SERIES, SECOND OPINION
Hosted by Dr. Peter Salgo, Second Opinion presents actual medical cases to a panel of experts to debate the pros and cons of diagnostic testing, interpret test results, and prescribe the best course of action. Its "HIV in Middle Age" episode and "H1N1 Special Edition" episode garnered
the awards.  

Heavy Alcohol Use Increases Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Men with HIV Link
 February 2010 Freiberg M, et al. HIVandHepatitis.com

HIV Contributes to Lung Cancer Risk, but Not Nearly as Much as Smoking   
February 2010 Sigel K, et al.  POZ   AIDSMeds

HIV Infection and HIV/HCV Coinfection Increased Risk of Strokes in Veterans Study   
February 2010 Sico J, et al.  HIVandHepatitis  Medscape

HIV-Infection and Fragility Fracture Risk among Male Veterans  
February 2010 Womack J, et al.  SummaryDGDispatch BodyPro Medscape TheBody Medpage Aidsmap Docguide NATAP  

HIV/HCV Coinfected Veterans Have Elevated Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease Link 
February 2010 Fischer M, et al.  HIVandHepatitis.com

UF study: Prescribed erectile dysfunction drugs don’t lead to risky sexual behavior Link
January 2010 Cook R, et al.  University of Florida News

Scientific Presentations in 2010

17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI)
February 2010

• "Methods for Estimating the Prevalence of Multidrug Resistance in Antiretroviral Therapy-Experienced Patients in North America" Abraham A (NA-ACCORD), et al. [poster]
• "Late Presentation for HIV Care in the United States and Canada" Althoff K (NA-ACCORD), et al. [poster]
• "A Comparison of the Immunologic Efficacy of Antiretroviral Therapy in Resource-replete versus Resource-limited Settings" Geng E (NA-ACCORD), et al. [poster]
• "HIV Infection, Hepatitis C Infection, and the Risk of Stroke in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study Virtual Cohort (VACS-VC)" Sico J, et al. [poster] Link
• "HIV Infection: An Independent Risk Factor for Lung Cancer" Sigel K, et al. [oral] Link
• "Trends in Cumulative Incidence of Cancer Among HIV-infected Patients in North America" Silverberg M (NA-ACCORD), et al. [poster] Link
• "HIV-infection and Fragility Fracture Risk Among Male Veterans" Womack J, et al. [oral] Abstract   Link

National Research Advisory Council (NRAC)
February 2010

•  "HIV and Aging in VACS" Justice A, et al. [oral]

14th International Workshop on HIV Observational Databases (IHOD)
March 2010

• "Change in a prognostic index for survival in HIV infection after one year on cART" Tate J, et al. [poster] Link
• "Do risk factors for mortality change with time on antiretroviral therapy” Tate J, et al. [poster] Link
• "HIV-infection and fragility fracture risk among women Veterans" Womack J, et al. [poster] Abstract Link
• "Impact of the cART penetration into the central nervous system on the incidence of neurological AIDS-defining events" [oral]
• "Red cell distribution width is an independent risk factor for all cause mortality in HIV infection” Tate J, et al. [poster] Link

12th International Conference on Malignancies in AIDS and Other Acquired Immunodeficiencies (ICMAOI)
April 2010

• "Risk of anal cancer in HIV-Infected patients and HIV-uninfected controls in North America" Silverberg MJ, et al. [oral] Abstract

Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) 
April 2010

• "Geographic Variation of Missed Visits among HIV Infected Veterans" Duggal M, et al. [poster] Abstract
• "Patient and Provider-Reported Symptoms in the Post-cART Era" Edelman J, et al. [poster] Abstract
• "Rural Residence is Associated with Increased Mortality among Veterans Initiating Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV Infection” Ohl M, et al. [oral] Abstract
• "HIV Infection and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study Virtual Cohort (VACS-VC)" Sico J, et al. [poster] Abstract
• "Hepatic safety and antiretroviral effectiveness in HIV-infected patients receiving naltrexone" Tetrault J, et al. [oral] Abstract - Accepted as one of twelve finalists for the Hamolsky award
• "Food Insecurity is Associated with Poor Immunologic and Virologic Response Among HIV-infected Patients" Wang E, et al. [oral] Link Abstract

2010 American Conference for the Treatment of HIV (ACTHIV) 
May 2010

• "HIV and Aging: Time for a New Paradigm" Justice AC, et al. [oral] Link

2010 American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference
May 2010

• "Incidence and Mortality of MICU Admission in HIV Infected (HIV+) and Non-Infected (HIV-) Veterans HIV Associated Lung Disease Including Pneumocystis" Akgun K, et al. [poster] Link
• "Risk Factors for Medical Intensive Care Unit Admission in HIV Infected Veterans" Akgun K, et al. [poster] Link  

Annual Research Meeting (ARM)
June 2010

• "Mistrust and Endorsement of HIV Conspiracy Theories Among HIV-Infected African-American Veterans" Mattocks K, et al. [poster]

National Library of Medicine (NLM) Informatics Training Conference
June 2010

• "Identification of Hepatic Decompensation from the EMR using NLP Tools" Garla V, et al. [poster] Abstract

33rd NIAAA-funded Satellite meeting at the upcoming Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) Scientific Meeting
June 2010

• "Addressing the role of alcohol and treatment in HIV transmission and progression" Fiellin D, et al.
• "Measures of Unhealthy Alcohol Use Among HIV Infected and Uninfected patients in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS)" McGinnis K, et al. [poster] Link   Abstract

The College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) 
June 2010

• "Hepatic safety and antiretroviral effectiveness in HIV-infected patients receiving naltrexone" Tetrault J, et al. [oral] Abstract

Building the Evidence Base to Improve Health Care and Outcomes for Women Veterans: VA Women's Health Services Research Conference  
July 2010

• "Accounting for the Hierarchical Structure in Veterans Administration Datasets: Differences in Mental Health Service Utilization between Men and Women Veterans" Goulet J, et al. [oral]
• "The Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Conditions in Female and Male Veterans Returning from Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF-OIF)" Haskell S, et al. [oral]

XVIII International AIDS Conference  
July 2010

• "The VACS Risk Index Responds to Treatment Interventions and is Highly Correlated with and Predictive of Mortality Events in the OPTIMA Study" Brown ST, et al. [poster] Abstract   Link
• "HIV, 'Comorbidity', and Aging: Time for a New Paradigm" Justice AC, et al. [oral] Link

2010 Ryan White Grantee Meeting & 13th Annual Clinical Conference
August 2010

• "Integrating and Prioritizing HIV and “non HIV” Care in the cART Era" Justice AC, et al. [oral]  

48th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)  
October 2010

• "Change in a Prognostic Index for Survival in HIV Infection After One Year On Cart by Level of Adherence" Tate J, et al. [poster]
• "Do Risk Factors for Mortality Change with Time On Antiretroviral Therapy?" Justice A, et al. [poster]

American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2010 Annual Symposium  
November 2010

• "Adherence Intervention Tool: A Web based Self Assessment Survey of Adherence to Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART)" Justice AC, et al. [poster]
• "Automating the classification of radiology reports indicating hepatic decompensation" Brandt C, et al. [poster]
• "A Clinical Decision Support Tool for Patients" Kawecki T, et al. [poster]