Section on Advancing EBI to Improve Outcomes for People Living with HIV/AIDS (IPWH)
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has large populations of people living with HIV (PWH), with most individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Available data from the United Nation Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicate that drug use is increasing in the general population for countries where data exists (e.g., Nigeria and South Africa) but in other countries (e.g. Uganda), data is lacking. Moreover, it has been documented that PWH both in the United States and some African countries (e.g., Nigeria and South Africa) have a higher prevalence of alcohol or tobacco use compared to the general population. Although data are available for the general populations; data on Substance Use (SU) for PLHIV in SSA does not exist in a rigorously collected, large scale population study.
The section on HIV/AIDS will build the capacity of rigorous data availability by creating a new cohort of PWH who use substances (i.e., HIV+/SU+) in Africa, and characterize the magnitude of SU and substance use disorders (SUD) in Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. This discovery cohort will document and elucidate the several aspects of substance use (e.g., frequency, and periodicity), mortality, clinical outcomes, and elucidate inflammation associated with SU for PWH in SSAs. We will use a multi-omics approach (i.e., genome, transcriptome, and proteome analysis) to elucidate genetic inflammasome activation in PWH in SSA populations and examine its relationship to SU frequency.
Our Work:
- Assess feasibility of improving outcomes for PWH using EBI to address comorbid conditions
- Collaborate with IHME to assess global HIV/AIDS
- Collaborate with investigators at South African Medical Research Council, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, and Mildmay Uganda to understand the epidemiology of SU in PLW
Section Leader: Emeka Iloegbu, MSc, MPH