February 12, 2007

• A. CIRA SPONSORED AIDS SEMINARS
• B. CIRA MEETINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
• C. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. CIRA SPONSORED AIDS SEMINARS

1. NEW! THIS WEEK! Research in Progress Seminar Series
   02/16/07, 1:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.
   Title: "Factors affecting disclosure in South African HIV positive pregnant women"
   Speaker: Jennifer Makin Pattinson, MB BCh, International Trainee
   Sponsor: Office of International Training (OIT)
   Location: OIT Conference Room, Ste # 3D, 40 Temple Street, New Haven, CT
   
2. YACS @ CIRA Seminar Series
   02/22/07, 12:00 P.M. – 1:00 P.M. (Brown bag lunch. Cookies and beverages provided.)
   Title: "Rapid Policy Assessment in Four Countries of the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe: What Have we learned so far about drug policy, policing and HIV prevention?"
   Speaker: Zita Lazzarini, J.D., M.P.H., Division Director and Associate Professor, Division of Medical Humanities, Health Law and Ethics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine
   Sponsor: CIRA, Institution for Social and Policy Studies and the Yale School of Public Health's Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases
   Location: LEPH Room 608, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT
   Contact: Please RSVP to elizabeth.eocaci@yale.edu. For more information or directions, please call 764-4333, email leif.mitchell@yale.edu or visit the YACS@CIRA Web site: http://cira.med.yale.edu/events/yacs.html
3. NEW! Research in Progress Seminar Series
   02/23/07, 1:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.
   Title: "Ethical issues in Antiretroviral Rolling-out Treatment in Resource-Poor Countries: Challenges and Response"
   Speaker: Wenyuan Yin, M.D., International Trainee
   Sponsor: Office of International Training (OIT)
   Location: OIT Conference Room, Ste # 3D, 40 Temple Street, New Haven, CT
   
4. NEW! Research in Progress Seminar Series
   03/02/07, 1:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.
   Title: TBD
   Speaker: Roman Skochilov, Ph.D., International Trainee
   Sponsor: Office of International Training (OIT)
   Location: OIT Conference Room, Ste # 3D, 40 Temple Street, New Haven, CT
   

B. CIRA MEETINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. NEW! Peer Review
   02/26/07, 2:00 P.M. – 3:30 P.M.
   Location: OIT Conf. Rm., Ste # 3D, 40 Temple Street, New Haven, CT
   NOTE: Materials for peer review must be submitted one week in advance of the peer review meeting. If you would like to have a manuscript reviewed, please contact Debra Tompkins (debra.tompkins@yale.edu). If you would like to have a proposal reviewed as part of the process of affiliating your research project with CIRA, please contact Kim Blankenship (kim.blankenship@yale.edu). We encourage you to have your proposal reviewed early in its development. The purpose of peer review is to enhance the quality of proposals and publications from CIRA scientists by allowing them to benefit from the Center’s expertise. The spirit of CIRA's peer review program is one of collegiality and respect; it is meant to be constructive rather than evaluative. Investigators use the feedback they receive as they see fit.
2. NEW! Law, Policy and Ethics (LPE) Core Meeting
   03/02/07, 11:00 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 1B, 40 Temple Street, New Haven, CT

C. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. THIS WEEK! The Hartford HIV Forum - "Advocacy and You: Be Part of Social Change"
   02/13/07, 12:00 P.M. - 1:30 P.M. (Lunch will be provided)
   Speaker: Shawn M. Lang, Director of Public Policy, Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition
   Sponsors: The Institute for Community Research (ICR) and The CT AIDS Education & Training Center (CAETC)
   Location: Institute for Community Research, 2 Hartford Square West, Suite 100, 146 Wyllys St., Hartford, CT 06106. Free parking on Wyllys St.
   Contact: Please RSVP to (860) 278-2044. For additional information, visit their Web site at: www.incommunityresearch.org.
2. NEW! THIS WEEK! "HIV/AIDS and Drug Use in Iran: Crisis and Opportunities"
   02/14/07, 12:00 P.M.
   Speakers: Kaveh Khosnood, Assistant Professor, EPH and Ramin Talaie (Independent Photojournalist)
   Location: Room A-001, ISPS, 70 Prospect St., New Haven, CT
   Contact: carol.pollard@yale.edu
3. NEW! Community-Based Prevention Research: "Physical Activity Programs for Breast Cancer Survivors"
   02/21/07, 3:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. (afternoon snack will be provided)
   Community-based collaboration is essential for the successful conduct of research. To make a difference in the most pressing issues of public health affecting our community today, partnership is required to identify health problems, understand the causes and consequences of illness, and ultimately develop solutions to enhance health. This new series will explore community-based research from multiple perspectives, using an innovative "panel" format: academic-based researcher, community partner, and study participants.
   Participants: Melinda Irwin, Ph.D., M.P.H., Yale School of Public Health, Ken Miller, M.D., Y.N.H.H. Oncologist and Director of the CT, Challenge Survivorship Clinic at Yale Cancer Center, Eileen Mierzejewski, M.S., Project Manager, YES, Lisa Cadmus, Ph.D. candidate, Project Manager, IMPACT, Jane Marron, YES Study Participant, Carol Wiske, IMPACT Study Participant
   Location: Room 608, 60 College St., New Haven, CT
   
4. NEW! "New Considerations in Community-Based, Culturally Congruent, HIV and Trauma Interventions for HIV Positive Women and Men"
   03/02/07, 10:15 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.
   Speaker: Gail E. Wyatt, Ph.D.; Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior; Director, UCLA Sexual Health Program; Director, Center for Trauma and Mental Health Disparities; Associate Director, UCLA AIDS Institute; Clinical Psychologist; Sex Therapist
   Sponsor: Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Prevention and Community Research
   Location: Connecticut Mental Health Center Auditorium, 34 Park St., New Haven, CT
5. Arts and Public Health in Action: Study of HIV/AIDS in Swaziland
   Yale Summer Session class offered in Swaziland. Application deadline: April 2
   Faculty: Rebecca Rugg and Kaveh Khoshnood
   Theater practice and Epidemiology come together in partnership to provide a vital, hands-on intervention into the HIV/AIDS pandemic in southern Africa. We will travel to Swaziland to collaborate with local artists who are using theater as a mode of discourse in the fight against HIV/AIDS; under the guidance of master teacher Ntare Mwine we will conduct theater workshops with local secondary school students; we will work in the field with local NGOs. Over five weeks, this practical work will amplify and deepen our classroom study of theater as a mode of social and political intervention and of major topics on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In the final week of the course, we will travel to the Grahamstown Arts Festival in South Africa, where students will synthesize their learning through exposure to a wide array of African cultural production, evaluating how the work engages with the theories of art activism and public health we’ve studied. Through experiences in the classroom and in the field, students will arrive at deeply informed perspectives on the AIDS pandemic in southern Africa, and will gain an activated understanding of the issues in public health, as well as the possibilities for theatrical interventions.
   Contact: For more information and application details go to the Web site.
6. RFP Announcement: NICHD International and Domestic Pediatric and Maternal HIV Studies Coordinating Center (NOT-HD-07-008)
   The sponsor requires logistical, technical, and administrative support to maintain, coordinate, and manage a multi-site network of clinical centers conduct¬ing research on treatment, prevention, diagno¬sis, epidemiology, and natural history of HIV infec¬tion and disease in pediatric, adoles¬cent, and maternal patient popula¬tions, including both domestic and international clinical sites. The NICHD is announcing a competitive Request for Proposal for a Contractor to serve as the NICHD International and Domestic Pediatric and maternal HIV Clinical Studies Coordinating Center, which encompasses both clinical trials on the treatment and management of HIV infection in infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant and non-pregnant women domestically and internationally, including infrastructure development as well as clinical trials.
   Sponsor: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
   Contact: For more information please go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-HD-07-008.html