UCLA selected to receive AIDS research funds
By Allyssa Lee
Daily Bruin Staff
In 1983, AIDS and its predecessor HIV were virtually unknown
 its causes and effects mysterious to the medical field and
to the public.
Since then, however, many advances have been made unlocking the
viral enigma, many of which were contributed by the Multicenter
AIDS Center Cohort Study.
This long-term study examined HIV and AIDS in more than 5,000
gay and bisexual men in four clinical sites, including UCLA.
As of April 1, the study received more than $4 million from the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an
organization that supports investigations and scientific studies at
various medical institutions in the United States and abroad.
"We’re following the development of HIV infection and looking at
the natural progression of AIDS," said Dr. Roger Detels, director
of the UCLA study site and professor of epidemiology in the School
of Public Health. "At first we were looking at the risk factors for
becoming infected, but now we’re looking at the way the individual
responds to the virus.
"We hope to learn much more about the natural history of HIV
infection," Detels continued. "This info will provide a basis for
treatment and prevention."
The study focuses on specific areas of clinical research,
particularly long-term survivors of the disease.
These people have either experienced damage to their immune
system but have not progressed to AIDS or have been repeatedly
exposed to HIV but have evaded infection, according to Detels.
"We’re particularly interested why some individuals are able to
cope successfully with the virus and others are not," Detels said.
"If we can understand what the mechanism of resistance is, then
perhaps we can induce the resistance in the individual who will
otherwise be susceptible.
"What we’re particularly interested in are those who have done
very well," Detels said. "I think we’ll find out something about
the defense mechanism. I suggest that their immune systems are more
capable of fending off infection, and that may in fact be mediated
through genetic factors."
In addition to the clinical study, UCLA has been awarded funding
for an initiative to examine basic research on immunologic,
virologic and genetic determinants of HIV progression under Dr.
Janis Giorgi, a UCLA cellular immunologist and associate professor
of medicine.
"We’re trying to answer the question of why a small percentage
of (HIV positive people) survive longer than expected, carrying the
virus for 10 to 12 years and showing no immune characteristics,"
explained Dr. Andrew Kaplan, a co-investigator on the grant and an
assistant professor of medicine.
"The fact that we got this grant means that UCLA is the center
of the research aspect," Kaplan continued. "We get samples from the
different (research) sites  it makes us the central
repository for all the studies."
Other clinical sites include the Johns Hopkins School of Public
Health, the Howard Brown Clinic at Northwestern University and the
University of Pittsburgh.
The recruitment of volunteer gay and bisexual men started in
1981 and expanded in 1984. The subjects are studied under a
volunteer basis and come in every three to six months.
During these visits research subjects are interviewed,
physically examined and give a blood specimen, according to
researchers.
"We chose gay and bisexual men, because in 1981, those were the
ones who have had HIV," Detels said.
Additional funds will be used to establish two state-of-the-art
laboratories.
"The (study) is one of the longest and most rigorous
epidemiologic studies of HIV infection in the world," said Anthony
S. Fauci, director of the allergy and infectious disease institute,
in a prepared statement. "The (study’s) biological specimens and
database, with more than a decade of valuable HIV-related
information, are exceptional resources for advancing HIV and AIDS
treatment and prevention strategies worldwide."
The allergy and infectious disease institute is a component of
the National Institute of Health, an agency of the United States
Public Health Service, part of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.