Penn Mental Health AIDS
Research Center (PMHARC)
Developmental Awards
Program
Pre-application Meeting
January 29, 2015
PMHARC Priorities
• Treatment of psychiatric disorders among people living with HIV infection who have
co-occurring medical conditions—metabolic syndrome, heart disease, diabetes,
obesity, cancers, HCV, TB, substance use disorders (alcohol and illicit drugs)
• Novel, as well as conventional, treatments and/or interventions of psychiatric
conditions to improve access to, and retention in, HIV treatment and improved
adherence to antiretroviral medications
• Adaptations of evidence based psychiatric treatment to the unique needs of HIV
patient populations
• Research that links the effective treatment of mental illness among people with HIV
infection to improvements in biological measures of health status
• Research focused on the treatment of HAND - HIV-Associated Neurocognitive
Disorders
• Studies of interaction effects between psychiatric and antiretroviral medications
Year 1 Pilots
17 Investigators
3 Institutions 3 Schools 6 Departments
•
The Impact of Personal Relevance and Depression on Brain and Behavioral Effects of HIV Prevention PSAs in HIVPositive MSM (Daniel Langleben, MD (Psychiatry), An-Li Wang, D.Phil. (Annenberg) Current Status: Data Collection
•
Evaluation of the HIV Treatment Cascade for HIV-Infected Persons with Mental Illness (Baligh Yehia, MD, MPP, MSHP
(Medicine/ID), Kathleen Brady, MD (Philadelphia Department of Public Health), Benoit Dube, MD (Psychiatry), Karen
Glanz, PhD, MPH (Epidemiology and Nursing), Robert Gross, MD, MSCE (Medicine/ID and Epidemiology) Current
Status: Publication
•
Mid-Life Cognitive Function in HIV+ Individuals: Impact of Endocrine and Immune Status (C. Neill Epperson, MD
(Psychiatry), Liisa Hantsoo, PhD (Psychiatry) Current Status: Data collection
•
Immune and Neuroimaging Biomarker Correlations between Depression and HIV-Associated Neurocognitive
Disorders in HIV-Infected Youth (Jennifer McGuire, MD (Neurology, CHOP), Brenda Banwell, MD (Neurology, CHOP),
Tami Benton, MD (Psychiatry, CHOP), Linda Hawkins, PhD, LPC (Pediatrics, CHOP) Current Status: Data collection
•
Predictors of HIV-Associated Psychiatric Distress and Neurocognitive Decline in a Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Sample (Iman
Martin, PHD, MPH, M.Sc. (Psychiatry), Ruben Gur, PhD (Psychiatry), Raquel Gur, MD, PhD (Psychiatry) Current Status:
Publication
•
Treatment of Insomnia with Zaleplon in HIV Positive Patients with Comorbid Depression (Matthew Kayser, MD, PhD
(Psychiatry), Michael Thase, MD (Psychiatry) Current Status: Data collection
Year 2 Pilots
16 Investigators
4 Institutions 4 Schools 5 Departments
•
CSF and Plasma sCD163, FABP3 and sIR as Biomarkers of Neuropsychiatric Impairment in HIV-Seropositive Women
Steven Arnold, M.D. (Psychiatry) Valarie Wojna, M.D. (Medicine/ Neurobiology)
•
Does the Severity of Substance Use Disorders Affect Neurocognitive Functioning of HIV+ Patients? Donna Coviello, Ph.D.
(Psychiatry) George Woody, M.D. (Psychiatry)
•
Barriers to Engagement and Retention in Care among HIV+ Transgender Youth with Psychiatric Co-Morbidities Nadia
Dowshen, M.D. (CHOP, Psychiatry) Fances Barg, Ph.D., M. Ed. (Community Health/Family Medicine) Marne Castillo,
Ph.D. (Adolescent Medicine) Benoit Dube, M.D. (Psychiatry) Linda A. Hawkins, Ph.D. (Human Sexuality, Widener
University)
•
The Impact of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on HIV care Retention Carmen McLean, Ph.D. (Psychiatry) Edna Foa, Ph.D.
(Psychiatry)
•
A Pilot study of Lifestyle Modification for Weight Loss in Persons with Obesity, HIV/AIDS and Major Depression David
Sarwer, Ph.D. (Psychiatry) Lucy Falconbridge, Ph.D. (Psychiatry) Rexford Akima, M.D., Ph.D. (Psychiatry/Medicine)
•
Computer-Assisted Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depressed, HIV+ People Taking Antiviral Medications Michael Thase,
M.D. (Psychiatry) Marna Barrett, Ph.D. (Psychiatry)
Successful Applications
• Responsive to the research priorities of the PMHARC
(http://www.med.upenn.edu/pmharc)
• Have clear potential to lead to larger, funded research
initiatives
• Utilize PMHARC Core services
• Link early career investigators with established investigators
• Link mental health and HIV/AIDS expertise
• Contribute to specimen and data repository
• Feasible to complete within one year
Pilot awards
• Penn Faculty, including Instructors. Post Docs and Senior
Fellows at Penn are also eligible with a faculty sponsor.
• $25, 000 awards—primarily personnel costs
• Selected projects receive significant support from PMHARC
Cores
• Forms and application details can be found at:
http://www.med.upenn.edu/pmharc
– Application deadline: March 1, 2015
– Approximate start date: July 1, 2015
– Five pages: Abstract, Significance, Innovation, Approach,
Human Subjects
PMHARC Cores
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Administrative Core
Developmental Core
Clinical Assessment Core
Intervention Core
Laboratory Core
Biostatistics Core
Developmental Core
• Director: Dave Metzger, PhD (dsm@mail.med.upenn.edu)
• Co-Directors: C. Neill Epperson, MD (raquel@upenn.edu) and Raquel Gur,
MD, PhD (raquel@upenn.edu)
• Coordinator: Chelsea Voytek, MPH (chelseav@mail.med.upenn.edu)
• Services
– Solicit applications and support applicants
– IRB applications
• Protocols and consent forms
– Mentoring on HIV and MH issues
– Recruitment assistance
• Advising on recruitment plan
• Flyer design and Web-based bulletin board ( http://www.phabb.org )
• Recruitment referrals
– Monthly monitoring and assistance during implementation
Clinical Assessment Core
• Director: Paul Crits-Cristoph, PhD (crits@mail.med.upenn.edu)
• Co-Directors: Pablo Tebas, MD (pablo.tebas@uphs.upenn.edu)
and Robert Gross, MD, MSCE (grossr@mail.med.upenn.edu)
• Services
– provides trained diagnosticians/evaluators to conduct
clinical assessments
– oversees administration of a core battery of
behavioral measures
– supports recruitment
– provides access to assessment software and
equipment
Intervention Core
• Director: Michael Blank, PhD (mblank2@mail.med.upenn.edu)
• Co-Directors: John B. Jemmott III, PhD
(jjemmott@asc.upenn.edu) and Michael Thase, MD
(thase@mail.med.upenn.edu)
• Coordinator
• Services:
– links with community partners
– trains investigators and research staff to implement
interventions for treatment of mental illness and
HIV/AIDS and their comorbidities
– consults on the design of HIV intervention projects
Laboratory Biomarkers, Quantitative
Pharmacology, Neuroimaging, and
Neurobehavioral Characterization Core
• Director: Steven Douglas, MD (DOUGLAS@EMAIL.CHOP.EDU)
• Co-Directors: Ruben Gur, PhD (gur@upenn.edu) and Jeffrey
Barrett, PhD (barrettj@email.chop.edu)
• Services:
– performs measurements and assays for all pilots and other
studies focused on treatments of comorbid mental illness and
HIV/AIDS
– performs assessments that will define mental illnesses,
HIV/AIDS, and the comorbid characteristics common to both
– maintains a specimen repository, which includes plasma, serum,
cells, and genomic DNA
Biostatistics and Data Management
Core
• Director: Warren Bilker, PhD (WARREN@upenn.edu)
• Co-Director: Knashawn Morales, ScD
(knashawn@mail.med.upenn.edu)
• Services:
– Assistance with power calculations
– Guidance on statistical and analytic
methodologies
– Support for effective data management