Please join us in congratulating DC CFAR Pilot Award and CFAR Adelante Award Recipient Dr. Ana María del Río-González (GW) who was awarded a Minority AIDS Research Initiative (MARI) Grant to develop and evaluate "Juntas Adelante: A Peer-coaching Intervention to Promote Chemoprophylaxis for HIV Prevention among Latina Transgender Women in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area". The MARI program aims to "build capacity for HIV epidemiologic and prevention research in mostly Black and Hispanic/Latino communities." The Juntas Adelante project will use community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to develop a peer coaching intervention to promote PrEP and PEP among Latina transgender women. DC CFAR investigators Drs. Leah Varga (DC Health - Co-I), Deanna Kerrigan and Maria Cecilia Zea (GWU - Mentors) are also part of this project. Juntas Adelante will be developed in partnership with community members from DC Health, La Clínica del Pueblo, NOVASalud Inc, TransLatina DMV and Whitman-Walker Health.

Additionally, Dr. del Río-González recently published a new article in the American Journal of Public Health June 2021 entitled "To Latinx or Not to Latinx: A Question of Gender Inclusivity Versus Gender Neutrality". This publication examines the use of "Latinx" in public health research. Dr. del Río-González provides five recommendations about when and how to use Latinx in order to increase the visibility of gender-expansive people of Latin American origin or descent.

Click here to read the full article.

DC CFAR Investigator Dr. Xiong Jiang (GU) recently published an article in the Journal of NeuroImage: Clinical April 2021 entitled "Connectome-based prediction of global cognitive performance in people with HIV".

The authors examined connectome-based predictive modeling to study neural biomarkers of global cognitive performance in people living with HIV.

Click here to read the full article.

Please join the DC CFAR Developmental Core Journal Club webinar on Wednesday, June 23 from 12:00 - 1:00 pm ET featuring Social and Behavioral Sciences Core Investigator, Dr. Ana María del Río-González (GW) who has selected the following publication for discussion. Two respondents from different disciplines will then provide their perspectives. Dr. Amanda Macedo (GW) will respond to this article from a Basic Sciences perspective and Dr. Ruth Kanthula (GU) will respond to this article from a Clinical and Population Sciences perspective. An open discussion will follow the presentations and help underscore opportunities for possible collaborations on future research initiatives.

Click here to register.

DC CFAR Pilot Award Recipient Dr. Jose Bordon (Washington Health Institute) recently published a new article in the International Cytokine and Interferon Society Journal Cytokine May 2021 entitled "Changes in liver steatosis in HIV-positive women are associated with the BMI, but not with biomarkers".

The article builds on work from Dr. Bordon's Pilot Award entitled "Effect of HIV Status on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Women". The authors evaluate the association of a panel of biomarkers with liver steatosis in a cohort of women living with HIV.

Click here to read the full article.

Please join us in congratulating DC CFAR HIV Cure SWG community lead, Mr. Cheriko (Riko) Boone (GW), who was awarded funding through the Williams Institute's LGBTQ+ and Racial Justice Small Grants Program to support his dissertation research addressing diversity in biomedical research, specifically focused on psychological & social-structural factors associated with Black sexual and gender minority people's participation in COVID-19 and HIV cure related research. The Williams Institute’s LGBTQ+ & Racial Justice Small Grants Program "aims to encourage new research on LGBTQ populations, with a particular focus on emerging issues at the intersections of race, sexual orientation, and gender identity."