SUNY Downstate Receives Federal Award to Support HIV Prevention in Ukraine
Nov 20, 2012
The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) recently awarded $500,000 over three years to SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University’s New York State International Training and Research Program (NYS-ITRP) through the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support HIV prevention interventions in Ukraine.
Launched in 2003 by President George W. Bush with strong bipartisan support, PEPFAR
is America’s commitment to fighting the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Unlike the rest
of the world, Eastern Europe and Central Asia have seen a rapid increase in HIV incidence
in the past four years, driven largely by intravenous drug use. By the end of 2010,
Ukrainian authorities had reported over 150,000 HIV cases. With1.1% of the population
living with HIV, Ukraine has the highest prevalence in Europe.
NYS-ITRP, led by Jack A. DeHovitz, MD, MPH, is a multi-institutional, multinational
collaborative effort sponsored by the Fogarty International Center at the National
Institutes of Health that provides training for scientists in low- and middle-income
countries to strengthen research and public health capacities at their institutions
related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis,
and other emerging infections. The program is administered by SUNY Downstate in collaboration
with the Wadsworth Center and the Division of Epidemiology at the New York State Department
of Health and the State University of New York School of Public Health at the University
at Albany. Dr. DeHovitz is distinguished service professor of medicine and director
of the HIV Center for Women and Children at Downstate.
The Ukraine supplement will enhance the ability of Ukrainian partnering organizations
(International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine and the School of Public Health of Kiev-Mohyla
Academy) and other CDC-funded collaborators to help evaluate HIV prevention interventions.
Supplement funding will also be used to enhance the research capacity of Ukrainian
researchers from nongovernmental organizations in the dissemination of their findings
from various HIV prevention projects. The most recent PEPFAR-related award to Downstate
(2008-2011) assisted a South African university-based research team with their prevention
projects on TB-HIV co-infection.
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.