UCLA AIDS Prevention and Treatment Clinical Trials Unit

Project Summary The overarching goal of the UCLA AIDS Prevention and Treatment Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) is to make significant contributions to the development and conduct of HIV treatment and prevention clinical studies in the context of the DAIDS-sponsored HIV Clinical Research Networks. The UCLA AIDS Prevention and Treatment Clinical Trials Unit (UCLA APT CTU) is a multidisciplinary research group composed of a core administrative unit and three clinical research sites (CRSs) in metropolitan Los Angeles, California, one CRS in Southern Brazil and a new CRS proposed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We have over 25 years of leadership experience in the design, implementation, and conduct of clinical trials evaluating both therapeutic and prevention strategies in diverse populations across all age groups. Under the leadership of the multiple PIs, Judith Currier MD, MSc and Raphael J. Landovitz, MD, MSc, an experienced multidisciplinary investigator team including Eric Daar, MD, Steve Shoptaw, PhD, Breno Santos, MD, and Pedro Cahn, MD, PhD together with a group of early midcareer investigators, Kara Chew, MD, MSc, Jesse Clark, MD, MSc, and Omar Sued, MD, PhD, we will participate in the design and conduct of studies addressing the highest priority areas for Adult Therapeutics for HIV/AIDS, HIV Prevention, and HIV Vaccines. The CTU has an administrative core and CRS at the UCLA CARE Center and additional CRSs at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, UCLA Vine Street Clinic, and at Grupo Hospitalar Conceição in Porto Alegre Brazil and at Fundación Huésped (FH), in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We have integrated our activities across adult medicine and between treatment and prevention to allow for an efficient and collaborative approach to addressing the highest priority research questions in HIV/AIDS. The CTU provides a gateway for the contributions of a cadre of outstanding established and emerging investigators at UCLA and from South America to contribute to clinical trials in HIV/AIDS. We place special emphasis on the recruitment of women and minorities in all aspects of our work. Shared resources for laboratory specimen processing and storage, regulatory management, community outreach, recruitment, and education, community advisory board (CAB) interactions across the Los Angeles-based sites promotes significant CTU-wide efficiency. Relevance The clinical research trials conducted by the UCLA AIDS Prevention Clinical Trials unit will have a direct beneficial effect on the health of millions of people worldwide who are living with or at risk for HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis B, transforming the health of people with these infections and preventing new infections. The research conducted by the CTU will lead to significantly reducing morbidity and mortality, particularly among populations disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.