Research
The Brown University Ukraine Collaboration is a joint venture between the Brown University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and health service providers in Ukraine through the support of the Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation. The collaboration engages the resources of Brown University to work with Ukrainian health providers to address the challenges of the HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics for children, women and their family members in Ukraine.
New D43 Training Grant is a multidisciplinary research training model to enhance high priority research capacity aiming to improve equitable access to HIV care in humanitarian settings in Ukraine and globally.
This training grant between Brown University (Providence, RI), its Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) partner Boston University (Boston, MA), and several non-monetary collaborating institutions in Ukraine, including the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (“NaUKMA;” Ukraine), and the Alliance for Public Health (“APH;” Ukraine). This initiative will enhance high priority research capacity aiming to improve equitable access to HIV care in humanitarian settings in Ukraine and globally. It will train researchers supporting high quality prevention and care across the HIV care continuum in conflict and post-conflict settings, including the care of persons coinfected with tuberculosis (TB) and other HIV comorbidities, such as substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health conditions. The conflict in Ukraine has seen unprecedented and systematic attacks against health workers and devastating destruction of medical facilities, which has disrupted these processes. Significant rates of internal displacement, affecting over 6 million people, have diminished the availability of medical and research personnel, as well as disrupted treatment for people with HIV (PWH). This is significant as Ukraine has among the highest burden globally of HIV and TB, including multidrug-resistant TB. Expanding clinical innovations in HIV care (including care for people with HIV/TB coinfection and other comorbidities, such as SUD and mental health conditions) is critical to improve health outcomes for individuals in humanitarian settings. Our training collaboration has potential to develop new models for implementing the HIV care continuum in humanitarian crises. Lessons learned and new models for diagnosis and monitoring, linkage, and maintaining care in settings of severe health systems disruptions are of enormous importance globally, including in resource-limited and disaster-risk areas of the United States and its territories.
Aim #1: To train a multidisciplinary cohort of Ukrainian researchers working on the HIV care continuum and HIV comorbidities, including TB, SUD, and mental health conditions, in a conflict-affected setting reduced medical infrastructure and large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs). We will recruit and train highly promising Ukrainian scholars (2 doctoral and 7 masters scholars).
Aim #2: To strengthen the capacity of Ukrainian faculty and researchers to conduct research in HIV and comorbidities, including innovations in the care continuum that address health systems disruption the specific needs of displaced people, through an innovative faculty fellows training program. This will encompass clinical, epidemiologic, behavioral, implementation, and laboratory research.
Aim #3: To establish an annual symposium for this focused research for dissemination of research findings, professional networking, enhancing research projects, and building local research capacity in collaboration with our non-monetary collaborating in Ukraine.
individuals in Ukraine are infected with HIV and AIDS according to the World Health Organization
AIDS related deaths occurred in Ukraine in 2019 according to UNAIDS.
of people who inject drugs have HIV in Ukraine according to UNAIDS.
HIV/AIDS is a crisis in Ukraine. The World Health Organization estimates that about 360,000 individuals in Ukraine are infected with HIV and AIDS including up to 20,000 children and 190,000 women. A large percentage of these people are young adults and over the next ten years as these young people become ill with AIDS and TB, it will be a tremendous stress on an already strained healthcare system. Furthermore, as this population moves into peak reproductive years, the potential for vertical transmission to children will increase and the need for prevention and treatment of HIV in children will also increase. In conjunction with the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the burden of TB is very high in Ukraine. Ukraine is listed among the top countries in the world for incidence of tuberculosis with high rates of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR).
In light of recent developments in Ukraine, Brown University researchers and their local partners have created Friends of Ukraine RI, and organization dedicated to providing immediate disaster relief to Ukrainians.
