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| Vol. 22, No. 10 |
| June 1, 2000 |
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Two NIH Grants Total $6.5 Million by BRYANT BOUTWELL, Dr. P.H. The University of Texas-Houston Medical School The UT-Houston Medical School is taking a leading community role in AIDS clinical research thanks to two five-year grants funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling $6.5 million. Dr. Roberto Arduino, director of the AIDS Program for the Center for the Study of Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens and a faculty member in the department of internal medicine's division of infectious diseases, is principal investigator for both grants. He also directs the UT AIDS section at the Harris County Hospital District's Thomas Street Clinic. "These grants provide a tremendous step forward for AIDS research in the Houston area," notes Dr. Arduino, who joined the UT-Houston Medical School three years ago and immediately set out to bring community organizations and area physicians together in a united effort with the Medical School to make a difference for the care and evaluation of patients with HIV. "Long-term clinical care and evaluation are key here," notes Dr. Arduino. "It's more expensive and difficult to follow patient outcomes over time but absolutely necessary to really evaluate the effectiveness of various treatment options and protocols. Being part of a large-scale, national network of federally funded HIV research that includes large numbers of patients, statistical support, and uniform methodology, provides many benefits for patients and physician scientists alike," he adds. "This is a real team effort and includes not only the UT Medical School and the Thomas Street Clinic, but also the Montrose Clinic, VA Medical Center, and area physicians in private practice. We are working in partnership with the community in a new collaborative manner that will only benefit patients and our understanding of AIDS." As part of that collaborative effort, the Houston AIDS Research Team (HART) has been organized representing clinical and research expertise throughout the Houston area to participate in research opportunities. The two grants include: A five-year, $1.5 million project funded in February 2000 by the NIH called ESPRIT (Evaluation of Subcutaneous Proleukin in a Randomized International Trial). As part of this multi-center international study, the Houston component under Dr. Arduino's leadership has already enrolled the first randomized patients in this worldwide study that looks at 4,000 patients. "Our goal is to enroll 100 patients and we already have 77," he notes. A five-year, $5 million NIH project which began in April 2000 is known as CPCRA (Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS). The UT-Houston Medical School and Houston-area collaborators are one of 14 CPCRA study centers in the nation and the only one in Texas. Funds will allow researchers to investigate a number of clinical protocols, both short-term studies and longer five-year studies. Nationwide the 14 study centers have more than 160 collaborating sites and will investigate HIV primary care for 60,000 AIDS patients. In Houston, 200 patients will be enrolled. Funded programs represent research groups with proven track records in AIDS research along with the ability to recruit patients who represent minority and underserved populations. A variety of key study questions identified by the national network of study sites related to virological, immunological, and clinical outcome issues will be investigated. Dr. Arduino notes that the idea that HIV is no longer a major problem in the Houston area is false. Approximately 1 out of 90 individuals in the Houston-area is HIV positive and that number is not declining. Among minority populations, it is on the rise. The community partners and institutions collaborating on the CPCRA studies have more than 4,000 Houston-area AIDS patients currently enrolled in patient care who are broadly representative of the Houston AIDS population by gender, race, and socio-economic status. These patients will serve as the primary source of patients to be enrolled in new clinical studies made possible by NIH CPCRA funding. Dr. Arduino, who graduated with a Diploma of Honors from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine, has been actively involved in HIV clinical studies since 1987 and currently is overseeing 12 different HIV research protocols for Houston-area patients.
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