# UAB-MISS MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2020 · $30,550

## Abstract

As the HIV epidemic has matured, understanding the impact of HIV on overall health becomes more important
as HIV is managed as a chronic illness. This is particularly true in the Southeastern part of the United States,
where the epidemic is worsening relative to other parts of the country. Alabama and Mississippi are located
in the heart of the Deep South and have some of the highest rates of new HIV cases annually, especially
among minorities. Barriers to access to care are among the worst in the US, and the prevalence of obesity,
cardiovascular disease, cancer, and health care disparities are most pronounced. Therefore, studying people
living with HIV in the Deep South will provide the opportunity to understand the current epidemic as it is
emerging today. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has a rich tradition of AIDS research, dating
back to the mid-1980s. As the epidemic has matured, UAB scientists have established expertise in many
areas, including psychosocial/behavioral, neurocognition, aging, cancer, pathogenesis, and health disparities.
UAB scientists have emerged as leaders in innovative cohort research that evaluates the long-term outcomes
via multisite cohort studies (e.g., CNICS, NA-ACCORD, ART-CC, and FRAM). By creating a linkage to the
University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) as a subaward partner, we take full advantage of their years
of expertise in HIV clinical care, outreach, and cohort research. Collectively, we represent an ideal cohort for
the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (CCS), both in terms of scientific expertise and representation of
the current HIV epidemic in the US. The Specific Aims for our CCS site are:
1. To continue to provide scientific leadership and expertise within the CCS, focusing on
 psychosocial/behavioral, structural and genetic determinants of HIV and co-morbidity-related
 outcomes; neurocognition among aging PLWH; and immunopathogenesis of HIV disease.
2. To collect high-quality data and specimens from MACS/WIHS-CCS core and sub-study visits to
 contribute to the Unified Scientific Agenda (USA) and protocols; and collaborate with the overall
 team of MACS/WIHS-CCS investigators across sites.
3. To continue to achieve operational excellence by maintaining outstanding records for recruitment,
 retention, data quality and completeness and cost-effectiveness.
4. To ensure sharing of data/specimens with the data center, the NIH community and external
 investigators, and communication/engagement with local communities.
5. To develop, mentor and support junior and minority investigators in coordination with
 Developmental Award Advisory Committee (DARC).
6. To recruit and retain a cohort of 230 women and 270 men, HIV-positive and age-matched HIV-
 negative controls, who are strategically selected to enable the conduct of the USA.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10218997
- **Project number:** 3U01HL146192-02S2
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Jodie Ann Dionne
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $30,550
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10218997

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10218997, UAB-MISS MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (3U01HL146192-02S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10218997. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*