Search
With Eastern Europe and Central Asia experiencing some of the world’s fastest HIV/AIDS growth rates, the region’s scientists and healthcare workers are facing a tremendous challenge combating this pandemic. At the same time, these countries are also confronting a resurgence of tuberculosis, Hepatitis C, and other related diseases. Without intervention, these diseases will have major consequences on the growth and development of the Eurasian countries, as well as the global community.
Scientists in this region are highly skilled; they have unique research abilities, and they work with novel population groups, geographic regions, and facilities. However, they often lack financial support and access to current research being conducted elsewhere. As one of the few international organizations that encourage cooperation between Eurasian and North American scientists, CRDF realized there was a need to launch a targeted initiative on HIV/AIDS and related infections that would help these scientists link to the rest of international community and build local research capacity.
Through this initiative CRDF has supported HIV/AIDS research that offers innovative, high-caliber scientific advancements that may likely lead to cost-effective prevention and treatment options. In 2006, sixteen research grant awards were activated, including 10 in the Russian Federation, which is witnessing the largest AIDS epidemic in Europe (UNAIDS, 2006). Some of the funded grants in Eurasia focus on the research of TB pathogenesis and regulation of inflammatory reactions in the lung; and agents of cryptosporidiosis and microsporidiosis in patients with HIV/AIDS. Others deal with the transmission of TB infection and generation of multi-drug resistant TB strains; as well as the selection of RNA interference susceptible targets in the HIV-1 replication cycle; and developing a comprehensive characterization of the effects of SIV infection.
CRDF staff have also traveled to some of the research sites in Russia, Armenia and Georgia. Grantees not only were able to give updates on their projects, but also showed the results of their fruitful collaborations with the U.S. scientists -- publications in the international journals, exchanges between the laboratories, and presentations at international conferences. The majority of the teams felt that they have established productive partnerships with their overseas colleagues and these collaborations would continue after the grant funding ends.
In addition, CRDF staff attended three major international conferences on HIV/AIDS in 2006, including the 1st Eastern European and Central Asian AIDS Conference in Moscow, Russia; 15th International Conference “AIDS, Cancer and Public Health” in St. Petersburg, Russia; and the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada. At the International AIDS Conference, CRDF hosted a special session New HIV Research Initiatives in Eurasia. The session was moderated by Dr. Jack DeHovitz, head of the HIV Center for Women and Children at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, and presentations were made by four Eurasian scientists funded by CRDF’s HIV/AIDS initiative. The panel had particular importance at the conference as it was the only panel on the HIV/AIDS research in Eurasia, and focused on prevention efforts and promising medical advances.
As the international community observes the World’s AIDS Day, CRDF looks forward its new initiatives in 2007 and is energized by the overall efforts of the Eurasian scientists in tackling this epidemic. While some of the scientists are commemorating this day by doing vital research in their labs, others are traveling around the world strengthening international AIDS research linkages and sharing their expertise. Afterall, only united the international scientific community may be able to find a cure to the “plague of the 21st century.”