# HIV/HCV-related health disparities in Baltimore: from community to lab bench

> **NIH NIH U54** · MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $243,959

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV are two chronic viral pathogens that disproportionately affect people of racial,
gender, and socioeconomic minorities. The proposed studies aim to use a multi-pronged approach to study
HCV, HIV and their co-infection, with epidemiologic, clinical, and basic science components. To study HCV
coinfection in HIV-infected individuals, we have established a cohort of 1985 HIV-infected men receiving care
at a multisite community health center in Metropolitan Baltimore. The study cohort encompasses various
underrepresented minority groups. A large database with >85 variables has been built and quality-verified
based on these patients. We have studied HCV incidence in this cohort and found a resurgence of incident
HCV among men who have sex with men (MSM) since 2010, which was associated with polydrug use and co-
occurrence of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). One aim of this project is to perform further analyses
using the existing database to achieve more discoveries and publishable findings. We propose to analyze the
trends and risk factors of prevalent HCV, chronic HCV cascade of care and treatment uptake, and factors
associated with spontaneous HCV clearance among the HIV-infected men. We will also analyze the syndemic
of HCV, other STIs, and polydrug use among the HIV-infected MSM. Some minorities, such as African
American MSM, transgender women, and residents of certain zip codes will be studied separately. The other
aim of the project is to employ a unique model system of long-term culture (> 3 months) of primary human
macrophages developed in our lab to study HIV latency and reactivation in these cellular reservoirs. Tissue
macrophages have recently been shown to be the major “sanctuary” for HIV in the presence of antiretroviral
treatment. Thus, a consistent and stable ex vivo and in vitro model to study long-term interactions between HIV
and macrophages will be of great utility in the effort toward an HIV cure. In addition, HIV-induced chronic
inflammation remains elevated in patients with undetectable viremia. Thus, we will test the hypothesis that
macrophage reservoirs persistently infected with HIV play a role in enhancing and sustaining HIV-induced
chronic immune activation through viral relapse and/or secreting virally modified exosomes. The results from
this project will have important impact on the public health effort toward the eradication of these two important
viral pathogens.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9986912
- **Project number:** 5U54MD013376-02
- **Recipient organization:** MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Yun-Chi Chen
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $243,959
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9986912

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9986912, HIV/HCV-related health disparities in Baltimore: from community to lab bench (5U54MD013376-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9986912. Licensed CC0.

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