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New clinical trials unit established at UKZN
UKZN Online Newsletter. Issue 4.
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A consortium of researchers from CAPRISA, the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and Aurum Health were recently awarded a core grant of over $10million for seven years by the NIH to establish a new clinical trials unit (CTU) for HIV prevention and treatment research.
The Unit is known as the "University of KwaZulu-Natal?—CAPRISA Clinical Trials Unit" and the application to establish this CTU obtained the best score from the NIH peer-review panel in the competitive process which involved several hundred applications from throughout the world. The Principal Investigator and Director of the CTU is Professor Salim Abdool Karim. Scientific leadership will also be provided by the CTU's two co-Principal Investigators ?– Professors Jerry Coovadia and Quarraisha Abdool Karim.
The CTU will be conducting research on AIDS treatment (Head: Kogie Naidoo) and HIV vaccines (Head in Aurum: Gavin Churchyard and Head in CAPRISA: Koleka Mlisana), microbicides (Head: Ayesha Kharsany), prevention of mother-to-child transmission (Head: Daya Moodley) and other forms of HIV prevention (Head: Janet Frohlich). Immediate involvement of the CTU in existing NIH clinical trials will be ongoing contributions in HVTN 204 (Aurum Health), HVTN 503 (eThekwini & Aurum Health), HPTN 046 (Umlazi) and HPTN 035 (Leadership only). A new AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) clinical trial is being set up at the eThekwini and new HIV Vaccine Trials Network sites are being established at the Umbilo and Vulindlela Sites. Over the next few years, it is anticipated that the CTU will become involved in several new studies as part of these NIH networks.
This new grant gives UKZN a major boost for AIDS research and strengthens existing relationships between CAPRISA and several academics in UKZN, especially in Statistics, Genetics, Psychology, Medical Therapeutics, Nursing, Community Health, Medicine - Infectious diseases, Women's Health Unit, Molecular Biology and Medical Microbiology. |
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