# The HIV-associated Opioid Micro-Environment (HOME) Project

> **NIH NIH DP2** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2020 · $2,368,125

## Abstract

Abstract
The proposed `HOME' project is in the NIH/OAR high research priority area of eradicating HIV from persistent
reservoirs and responsive to the parent RFA for highly innovative studies at the nexus of substance abuse and
HIV/AIDS.
Most HIV anatomical reservoirs are hard to reach but studying blood alone is not enough to fully characterize
HIV reservoirs. Thus, we will leverage prior NIH investments in our unique `Last Gift Cohort'. No such cohort is
available elsewhere. The cohort obtains blood (before death) and a uniquely large set of tissues (within 6 hours
after death) comprehensively from persons with HIV (PWH) who die while on documented, suppressive
antiretroviral therapy (ART). For our HOME project, we will collect the following 17 tissues/fluids: blood, gut
(ileum and colon), lymph nodes, kidney cortex, spleen, lungs, liver, genital tract (prostate/testes or
cervix/ovaries), adipose tissues (abdominal, subscapular and pericardial), heart, brain (basal ganglia, frontal
cortex and cerebrospinal fluid). We will then use these samples for state-of-the-art `Single-Cell Multi-Omics'
technologies to address the following Goals, which are directly responsive to the parent RFA:
 • Goal 1: To Deeply Characterize the HIV Reservoir (Size and Activity) in the Blood and Tissues at a Single
 Genome Level in Relation to Opioid Levels.
• Goal 2: To Deeply Characterize the T Cell and HIV DNA Clonality in the Blood and Tissues to “Quantify the
 Distribution and Diversity of Clonal Expansion” in relation to opioid levels.
• Goal 3: To identify HIV and Opioid-associated immunologic Mechanisms Associated with HIV Persistence
and Increased HIV RNA Transcription at the Single Cell Level.
By leveraging our unique source of tissues and data generated through state-of-art methods, we will for the first
time deliver a map of HIV persistence, activity and clonality across the human body in relation to opioid use. We
will also reveal comprehensive molecular details and define parameters of HIV persistence at single-cell
resolution, which will uniquely advance HIV cure efforts.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10056153
- **Project number:** 1DP2DA051915-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Sara Gianella Weibel
- **Activity code:** DP2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $2,368,125
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10056153

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10056153, The HIV-associated Opioid Micro-Environment (HOME) Project (1DP2DA051915-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10056153. Licensed CC0.

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