Thursday, Sep 8, 2016
10:00 - 11:00 AM PDT
Hosts: The Legacy Project and Microbicide Trials Network
The Legacy Project and the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) invite you to participate in a dynamic webinar in the continuation of the Legacy Project's Community Engagement and Research Literacy Series.
Researchers are making important strides in developing and evaluating both vaginal and rectal microbicides – products applied inside the vagina or rectum to protect against HIV through sex. These products are being designed and tested in many forms, including films and rings, which release an active ingredient over time (vaginal microbicides), and as gels, enemas and fast-dissolving tablets (rectal microbicides). Both vaginal and rectal microbicides represent an HIV prevention strategy that doesn’t have to be controlled by one’s sexual partner. This webinar will address the evolution & current and future status of vaginal and rectal microbicide research.
By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:
- Describe the current state of vaginal and rectal microbicide research and the major studies completed to date;
- Elucidate how this research is evolving to incorporate testing of new potential products and delivery methods;
- Understand the need for continued research and options for biomedical HIV prevention.
The Legacy Project is a program of the Office of HIV/AIDS Network Coordination (HANC), which is housed at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The Legacy Project’s mission is to build trust and collaboration between historically underrepresented communities most impacted by the domestic HIV epidemic, researchers, and research institutions; enhance cultural competence; and initiate scientific investigation to increase clinical research participation. The Legacy Project works nationally to increase awareness of and build support for HIV prevention and treatment clinical and behavioral research by addressing factors that influence participation of historically underrepresented communities.
Click here to register
Presenter Information:
Sharon Hillier, Ph.D: Professor and Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs, and Director of Reproductive Infectious Disease Research in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Principal Investigator of the Microbicide Trials Network.
Ian McGowan, M.D., Ph.D., F.R.C.P: Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition with a joint appointment in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Principal Investigator of the Microbicide Trials Network
Stephaun Wallace, MS, MOL: Project Manager, HANC/Legacy Project, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA; Co-Director, Community Action Board, Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Re: PLEA ADVICE ME. I RECENTLY
Learning that you are living with HIV can be a difficult thing to hear. However, it is not a death sentence. Many people living with HIV lead full, long, and healthy lives. I am glad that you reached out for information and support. You can find more support by participating in our community, and through the writings of our brave bloggers living with HIV at A Girl Like Me.
It will be important for you to connect with a health care provider and begin HIV treatment. It is now widely acknowledged that starting HIV treatment as soon as a person tests HIV-positive is the best way to ensure a long and healthy life with HIV. If you live in the US, you can find HIV services near you by looking at the POZ directory. If you live outside the US, you can use NAM’s e-atlas to find HIV services near you.
You also mentioned you are pregnant. The decision to terminate the pregnancy is clearly your own. You might like to know that, with appropriate HIV treatment and viral suppression (viral load is undetectable), the chances of passing HIV on to your baby can be less than one in 100. In other words, it is entirely possible to be living with HIV, get pregnant, and have an HIV-negative baby. Scientists have also shown that being pregnant does not make HIV progress faster in the mother. If you choose to remain pregnant, it is even more important that you begin HIV treatment and have as low a viral load as possible to lower the chances of passing HIV to your baby. For more information, please see our fact sheet on Pregnancy and HIV.
Again, whether you choose to terminate or keep the pregnancy, it is important for you to connect with a health care provider and begin HIV treatment soon so that you can bring up your CD4 count, improve the health of your immune system, and stay well.
You may find some of these fact sheets helpful, as you consider and begin your HIV treatment:
Best wishes,
Jennifer
Jennifer Johnsen, Managing Editor
The Well Project