September 24, 2007

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

A. CIRA SPONSORED AIDS SEMINARS

1. YACS @ CIRA Seminar Series
   
   Date/Time: 09/27/07, 12:00 P.M. – 1:00 P.M., (Brown bag lunch. Cookies and beverages included.)
   Title: "AIDS-Orphanhood: Psychological Effects and Intervention Strategies"
   Speaker(s): Lucie Cluver, Dept. of Social Policy & Social Work, University of Oxford
   Sponsor(s): Co-sponsored by CIRA, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and Yale School of Public Health's Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases
   Location: LEPH room 608, 60 College St., New Haven, CT
   Contact: Please RSVP to Elizabeth Eocaci-Tucker. For more information or directions, please call 764-4333, or visit the YACS @ CIRA Web site: http://cira.med.yale.edu/events/yacs.html.

B. CIRA MEETINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Executive Committee Meeting
   10/04/07, 10:30 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
2. NEW! Peer Review
   10/09/07, 10:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
   Note: CIRA peer review provides an opportunity to enhance the quality of grant proposals and manuscripts written by CIRA scientists by sharing them with a multidisciplinary group of colleagues. The spirit of CIRA peer review is one of collegiality and respect; peer review is constructive rather than evaluative. Investigators use the feedback they receive as they see fit. We encourage you to have your proposal reviewed early in its development. If you would like to submit a grant proposal or manuscript for peer review, please contact Jon Atherton (jon.atherton@yale.edu; 764-4337)
3. NEW! Community Research (CR) Core Meeting
   10/10/07, 9:00 A.M. - 10:30 A.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
4. NEW! Interdisciplinary Research Methods (IRM) Core Meeting
   10/12/07, 1:00 P.M. - 2:30 P.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT

C. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. NEW! THIS WEEK! Bioethics Study Group: "Addiction, Mental Health, HIV/AIDS"
   Topic Title: The Ethics of Take-Home Naloxone Distribution
   
   Date/Time: 09/27/07 12:30 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.
   This study group consists of interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners who are interested in ethical issues in the nexus of drug addiction, mental health and HIV/AIDS practice, research, and policy. Group membership draws from various schools within Yale University (Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health, Psychiatry) as well as individuals associated with Yale’s Interdisciplinary Bioethics Center and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA). Group members specialize in diverse discipline including public health, sociology, philosophy, psychiatry, and substance abuse.
   Speaker: Daniel Kim, Student of Divinity and Public Health
   Location: Conference Room D130, 77 Prospect St., New Haven
   Contact: For further information, lunch reservations or reading materials, contact ashley.simmons@yale.edu.
2. THIS WEEK! "HIV/AIDS and Psychosocial Issues for the Non-Infectious Disease Provider"
   
   Date/Time: 09/29/07 8:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.
   Objectives: Implement the new (September 2006) revised CDC HIV screening recommendations in your practice. Identify behaviors that place patients at risk for acquiring HIV. List the necessary clinical tests required after a patient receives a positive HIV test. Interpret HIV/AIDS lab results. Describe the natural history of HIV infection and recognize stage of a patient's infection. Recognize the intersection of domestic violence/sexual assault and HIV/AIDS. Assess the role of domestic violence and sexual assault in the clinical management of HIV/AIDS patients. Demonstrate an appreciation of the psychosocial issues related to providing medical care to HIV infected patients.
   Speakers: Kathleen Tummillo, MS, APRN, ANP, Coordinator, Special Services, St. Francis Hospital, Melanie Danyliw, MS, Director of Community Education, Women's Center of Greater Danbury
   Sponsors: The CT AIDS Education & Training Center (CAETC), Yale School of Nursing and Saint Francis Hospital
   Location: St. Francis Hospital, Chawla Auditorium, 114 Woodland St., Hartford, CT
   Contact: Register online at cme.yale.edu. If you have any questions, please contact the Center for Continuing Medical Education at 203-785-4578.
3. Neuro-AIDS Pilot Grant Announcement, 2008
   
   Letters of Intent, a required first part of a two stage process, are due by 10/7/07.
   The Johns Hopkins University NIMH Center for Novel Therapeutics of HIV- associated Cognitive Disorders, located in the Department of Neurology, has announced the upcoming 2008 Developmental Pilot Grant Awards for innovative Neuro-AIDS projects. The grant awards are particularly designed to stimulate new projects and encourage new investigators to generate data which would be used for future grant applications. Faculty members of any rank are encouraged to apply, and collaborations with other academic institutions or international sites are allowable. The Center will award 2-4 pilot grants of $25,000 to $45,000 in direct costs for a one year period
   Contact: For additional information please contact Carol at cscott28@jhmi.edu or by telephone at 410-955-0956. http://hopkinsneuro.org/research/jhu_nimh/
4. First and Second Fridays: "What Goes On Here?", a walk through the process of HIC protocol review and approval, with tips on ways to smooth the path.
   
   Date/Time: 10/05/07–9:00 AM and 10/12/07–1:00 PM
   The Human Investigation Committee (HIC) is pleased to announce a new informal series, "First and Second Fridays". These one hour sessions will offer information on practical issues in protocol submission, and provide the opportunity for research coordinators to ask questions and to engage in dialogue among coordinators and with HIC staff. There will be a new topic each month, from October through June. Each session will be offered on the First Friday from 9:00-10:00AM, and then repeated on the Second Friday from 1:00-2:00PM. We hope this schedule will provide maximum flexibility for research staff.
   Location: Yale University, Room 205, 47 College St., New Haven, CT
   Contact: Registration is limited to 20. To register email Ysmhic@yale.edu. For more information please contact Jean Larson, 203-785-5183
5. Applications for the HIV Research Trust Scholarships are now open
   
   The deadline for applications is 10/31/07.
   The HIV Research Trust is a charitable foundation that provides financial support for researchers in resource – poor countries working in the field of HIV infection. The support is in the form of Scholarships awarded annually. These are designed for the research worker to travel to another research unit to learn techniques that will be of value when he or she returns. All aspects of research are eligible including clinical care, epidemiology, psychological and societal aspects, basic and applied biology. The Scholarships, which are usually for a few months duration, cover travel, living expenses and consumables. They are awarded competitively based on a peer-review process.
   Sponsors: International AIDS Society and the HIV Research Trust
   Contact: Additional information is available on the IAS Web site at http://www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=109 or on the HIV Research Trust Web site at http://www.hivresearchtrust.org.uk.
6. NEW! NIH is accepting LRP applications
   
   Deadline for online applications is 8:00 p.m. EST, December 1, 2007.
   NIH is inviting health professionals engaged in biomedical and behavioral research to apply online for a loan repayment award. The loan repayment programs (LRPs) are a vital component of our nation’s efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified professionals to careers in research. NIH annually awards loan repayment contracts to approximately 1,600 health professionals with an average award of $52,000. More than 50% of the awards are made to individuals less than 5 years out of school. Approximately 40% of all new applicants are funded and 70% of renewals are funded.
   Contact: To access the online application or for program information, please visit the LRP Web site at http://www.lrp.nih.gov/. For assistance call the Helpline at 866.849.4047 or send email inquiries to lrp@nih.gov.
7. NEW! CALL FOR PAPERS! Special Issue on New Strategies in the Delivery of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Testing Services in the U.S.
   
   Submission Deadline for manuscripts is December 21, 2007.
   Public Health Reports (PHR), the peer-reviewed journal of the US Public Health Service and the Association of Schools of Public Health, has announced a call for papers to be published in a Special Issue on New Strategies in the Delivery of HIV Testing Services in the US. Manuscripts should advance the scientific discourse regarding new methods for delivery of HIV testing services, particularly those reporting on testing strategies among racial/ethnic minority groups and other groups disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic. Guest Editor for this Special Issue is Travis Sanchez of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All manuscripts approved by the Guest Editor and the PHR Editorial Committee will be forwarded for external peer review. Manuscripts should be emailed to the Editor of PHR, Robert Rinsky at the address below or mail to: Public Health Reports, 7774 Heatherglen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45255.
   Contact: If you have any questions about this special issue, please contact Travis Sanchez (404-639-1742; tsanchez@cdc.org). If you have any questions about Public Health Reports, please contact Editor, Robert Rinsky, at 513-636-0257; robert.rinsky@cchmc.org.