Though Alpert Medical School may be small, the University's Center for AIDS Research is a national leader in HIV/AIDS research for marginalized populations, such as women, adolescents and incarcerated individuals.
"Even if we are a small medical school, we have a very strong HIV program," said Susan Cu-Uvin, professor of medicine and of obstetrics and gynecology and director of the Global Health Initiative. With 34 million people infected with HIV worldwide, "we can't simply close our eyes," she said.
The University's center was the first to concentrate on HIV infection in women, said Charles Carpenter, professor of medicine. The center is also the "leading institution in dealing with HIV in the incarcerated population," Cu-Uvin said.
Partnered with Tufts University and Lifespan, the University hosts one of the 20 National Institutes of Health Centers for AIDS Research programs. Begun in 1998, the center has been especially active in the clinical research realm, said Curt Beckwith, associate professor of medicine.
HIV/AIDS research at the University is a broad field that includes perspectives such as international global health, HIV prevention and the development of new medications. Brown researchers also concentrate on linkage to care programs for the marginalized populations of substance users and incarcerated individuals, Beckwith said.
"It's not just people sitting in a lab, holding a pipette," said Lauren Levitz '10, who now works at Providence EpiVax, Inc., a company working on the development of an HIV vaccine. The company was started in 1998 by Anne De Groot, a former professor of pediatrics and director of the former TB/HIV research lab at the University.
HIV research involves looking at the disease from an interdisciplinary standpoint, "spanning everything from the basic sciences all the way to the social sciences and humanities," said Kartik Venkatesh '06 PhD'11 MD'13. "This interdisciplinary framework certainly resonates with Brown's educational and research philosophy," he added.
Undergraduates also conduct research and have been particularly involved in overseas program development. In 2008, several students helped establish the Hope Center Clinic, the first HIV clinic in a village setting in Mali. In 2009, Danielle Poole MA '11.5 worked alongside De Groot to set up an HPV vaccine trial to "prime the population" for future HIV vaccine distribution to village adolescents, Poole said.
Though it appears that research opportunities for undergraduates abound, Alexander Salter '12 was unable to find an on-campus lab to do HIV/AIDS research.
"I have definitely heard of researchers doing more epidemiological things, looking at population-based studies, but what we don't have is research for active vaccine development for the basic sciences," he said.
The research center has focused on toward treating current HIV infections and preventing transmission. Much of this research is completed in the clinic by hospital faculty and involves widespread HIV testing and administering medication. The Miriam Immunology Clinic at Alpert Medical School services approximately 1,500 patients, according to Carpenter. Rhode Island has 100 to 200 new cases of HIV per year.
"The point is not research for just research's sake, but actually applying it to people in our care," said Michelle Lally, associate professor of medicine, associate professor of health services, policy and practice and director of the Brown University AIDS Program. "We translate research into real efforts," she said.
Meanwhile, De Groot is developing an HIV vaccine through the Global AIDS Alliance Foundation and her company. Development of the HIV vaccine is a not-for-profit endeavor, and De Groot said that that vaccine development is a long and expensive process.
"As soon as we have the money to get our vaccine ready, we will bring it to trial," she said, adding that a vaccine trial costs between 100 and 300 million dollars.
Back on campus, the research price tag is equally high. But the HIV/AIDS research program has weathered the funding crisis very well, Cu-Uvin said.
"It's getting harder and harder to get grants from the National Institutes of Health, but we have been very lucky," she said.
Federal funding for HIV/AIDS research at the University totaled $22.4 million for fiscal year 2010, marking the program's fourteenth year of continuous federal funding, said Vicki Godleski, an administrator at the Center for AIDS Research.
Researchers stand firm in their belief that HIV/AIDS research should be a priority for the University.
"The University has always had a very strong social responsibility," Cu-Uvin said. "I think Brown has always looked beyond its borders."
