Studies Seek to Find Female Biologic Factors That Affect HIV

BETHESDA, Maryland—A 5-year, $17.5-million program will investigate how HIV infection affects adolescent and adult women. Three research centers will house the Women’s HIV Pathogenesis Program, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Researchers at the centers will collaborate with others in an effort to identify biologic factors unique to women that affect HIV.

The centers will be located at the University of Washington in Seattle, the Gladstone Institute of Virology in San Francisco, and Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.

Researchers will focus on various subpopulations, including minority women, lesbians, female substance abusers, and women approaching or experiencing menopause. Understanding biologic factors unique to women could provide insights into how they become infected with the virus and transmit it to others, how the disease progresses in women after infection takes place, and how the disease affects women differently from men, NICHD said.