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."

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.

DC CFAR Investigators Drs. Mimi Ghosh (GW), Sam Simmens (GW), Manya Magnus (GW) and Afsoon Roberts (GW) with DC CFAR Co-Director, Dr. Gary Simon (GW), recently published a new article in the American Journal of Reproductive Immunology April 2021 entitled "Recent sexual violence exposure is associated with immune biomarkers of HIV susceptibility in women".

The study examines bio-markers associated with HIV susceptibility among women who are survivors of sexual violence. The team reports systemic and mucosal immune dysregulation in women exposed to sexual violence, which might increase HIV susceptibility among this population.

Click here to read the full article.

The DC Cohort team is pleased to share the April 2021 DC Cohort newsletter. In this edition, they highlight the research of Dr. Matt Levy, who examined blood lipid levels among DC Cohort participants who are HIV controllers, and Ms. Jenevieve Opoku, who assessed whether DC Cohort participants were a representative citywide sample of people with HIV in DC. In addition, they outlined planned initiatives for the next five years and provided information on their COVID-19, Molecular Epidemiology, and Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) substudies.

To read the April 2021 edition of the DC Cohort newsletter, click here, and to learn more about the DC Cohort Longitudinal HIV Study, click here.

Please join us in congratulating DC CFAR Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Core Director Dr. Lisa Bowleg who received an Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Prize for Faculty Scholarship (Research) Award from the George Washington University Faculty Affairs Office. This award is presented to faculty who have made significant original contributions to research and recognizes outstanding research accomplishments. Dr. Bowleg is a professor of applied social psychology at GW and a leading scholar of the application of intersectionality to social and behavioral science research.