Grant: Team Grant - HIV/AIDS and comorbidities

Antiretroviral therapy has considerably changed the HIV epidemic, transforming this infection into a chronic manageable disease. However, HIV persists in latent reservoirs and strategies aimed at viral eradication have been elusive, so far. This persistence is thought to result in a chronic state of immune activation leading to various states of inflammation, which have been associated with non-AIDS defining illnesses such as : increased risk of cardio-vascular diseases (CVD); bone metabolism disorder; dyslipidemia; diabetes; neuro-cognitive disorders; early aging, etc.. These disorders affect HIV-infected individuals at various degrees. We wish to further characterize the pathways leading to these disorders, more specifically to the increased risk of CVD and also identify predictors in order to better prevent negative outcomes and target our primary care interventions. We have assembled a team of world renowned leaders in the fields of CVD and HIV research, who will provide the insights and dynamics required to tackle what has become the perfect storm from the collision of two major chronic illnesses: the premature aging associated with HIV-1 and the endemic CVD burden of our society. Our team is composed of biomedical and clinical scientists from cardiology, immunology, host genetics and virology, as well as epidemiologists and population health experts, who join in an integrated approach to take into account the complex interactions between host, virus and environment. Objectives: The primary objective of our study is to better understand the pathogenesis leading to premature CVD in HIV-infected individuals and identify predictors that could be used for early diagnosis and prevention strategies.