The Collaborative Studies Coordinating Center (CSCC), housed in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics, has been awarded funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to serve as the coordinating center for the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN), a research network devoted to the health and well-being of adolescents and young adults with HIV or at risk for HIV infection.
In addition to the CSCC funding, the funding for the ATN, which will be up to $24 million in 2016, establishes three research hubs across the United States, one of which includes researchers at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The ATN Coordinating Center, led by co-principal investigators Myra A. Carpenter, PhD, senior investigator at the CSCC, and Michael Hudgens, PhD, professor of biostatistics at the UNC Gillings School, will serve as the central resource for network communications and research operations including cataloging of biosamples, data management and statistical analysis.
“I am excited to be expanding the CSCC’s research portfolio to include the ATN,” said Carpenter. “Our work in the ATN is a perfect match with our center’s mission to improve public health by coordinating important health research, developing innovative research methodology, and providing practical training in the application of research methods.”
ATN aims to obtain care for at-risk youth, while at the same time offering them opportunity to participate in research trials that have potential to improve their health and the health of others. The newly funded ATN centers will conduct studies aimed at preventing HIV infection among youths. They also will seek to enroll HIV-infected youths into treatment studies to improve their health and reduce their chances of spreading the virus.
