UAB Synopsis, Vol. 25, No. 15, July 3, 2006

The UAB Coordinating Center and Scientific Leadership Group of the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network (ATN) for HIV/AIDS Interventions recently received a competitive renewal grant for $11.6 million, to be administered over 5 years. UAB Professor of Pediatrics Craig M. Wilson, MD, chairs the national network’s HIV/AIDS programs, which are administered by the UAB Division of Geographic Medicine, of which Dr. Wilson is interim director.

Sponsored principally by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, ATN is the only federally funded HIV network focused on prevention and management strategies aimed at the domestic HIV epidemic in adolescents and young adults.

The leadership group develops and prioritizes the ATN scientific agenda, independently and in collaboration with other federally funded HIV networks.

“We are now testing a community based primary prevention model in 14 cities, with plans to test HIV vaccines and microbides in adolescents,” says Dr. Wilson, whose research supports the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of HIV in adolescents. “Therapeutic interventions to improve adherence, secondary risk reduction, and engagement in care are all important parts of ongoing studies.”

Dr. Wilson and his coordinating staff have played a significant role in combatting HIV infection in domestic youth, beginning with the multicenter Reaching for Excellence in Adolescent Care and Health study of HIV in adolescents infected through risk behaviors (1994-2001). He also directs the International Core of UAB’s interdisciplinary Center for AIDS Research and facilitates its contributions to the Center for Infectious Disease Research programs in Zambia.