Meet Clare, A Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out this interesting mini-bio of  Clare Collins, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Clare  is one of five new bios posted October 30, 2012.



Clare Collins
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

"I think rectal microbicides just make sense. The idea of a product that people might actually WANT to use to protect themselves against HIV is a no-brainer."

Clare is an Associate Director of Communications and External Relations at the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN), where she works to promote MTN's rectal microbicide agenda. She also works to strategize the best ways to communicate with others concerning complex health information around biomedical HIV prevention. After starting at the MTN in 2010, she got involved with IRMA through reaching out to IRMA chair Jim Pickett and believes rectal microbicides are a very important part of the HIV prevention research agenda.

Currently Clare is busy planning for the launch of the first-ever rectal microbicide Phase II trial (MTN 017), testing a reduced-glycerin version of tenofovir gel for safety and acceptability among gay men, other men who have sex with men, and transgender women at domestic and international sites. The first site is expected to open enrollment sometime in December 2012. Clare is also part of a team (including IRMA and Population Council) that developed a new educational video, "The Rectal Revolution is Here: An Introduction to Rectal Microbicide Clinical Trials," which will be launched at the same time MTN 017 starts. The video is 13 minutes long and will be available on YouTube. It features animation and live action, and has English, Spanish, and Thai versions.

Clare has been greatly influenced by her mother, who taught her valuable lessons about compassion and concern for others through her battle with cancer, including the necessity of universal access to health care. She is very excited about the future and looks forward to seeing the evolving research in this area.

Thank you, Clare, for all that you do!

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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

  *Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.

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IRMA in Thailand to Prep for MTN 017

IRMA, the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN), AVAC, and local partners participated in two community consultations in Thailand last week on the upcoming Phase II rectal microbicide trial called MTN 17.   

Community stakeholders in Chiang Mai and Bangkok were provided updates on the field and were asked to provide feedback to the MTN about the draft MTN 017 protocol. In October, a similar consultation was held in Cape Town. Pittsburgh  held another one of these sessions recently, and more community input sessions are planned for Boston and Lima as well.

Check out some pictures of the consults...

More pictures of Chiang Mai consult on MTN 017 here.

More pictures of Bangkok consult on MTN 017 here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Pittsburgh's Dynamic Rectal Duo

IRMA Scientific Vice Chair Ian McGowan and his research/life partner, Ross Cranston (also a member of the IRMA Steering Committee) are featured in CUE Pittsburgh this month. They talk about our favorite topic - rectal microbicides - and a trial taking place right in Pittsburgh that gay men can get involved in.

The article, below, starts on Page 17. Use the arrows on both sides of the magazine to "flip" pages forward and back.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

International Rectal Microbicide Advocates cheers launch of world's third rectal microbicide trial

Calls for more funding to strengthen field

This brings us another step closer to the development of safe and effective rectal microbicides for use during anal intercourse.

The world's third rectal microbicide trial launched in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania today, with sites preparing to open in Boston, Massachusetts, and Birmingham, Alabama soon. Scientists will test the rectal safety and acceptability of tenofovir gel, a microbicide developed for vaginal use that has shown promise for preventing HIV through vaginal intercourse. Depending on the outcome of this new study, tenofovir gel could be further evaluated to determine if it can reduce the risk of HIV among both men and women who engage in receptive anal intercourse.

"International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) congratulates the Microbicide Trials Network and its partners on the launch of this very important study – the third Phase I trial in history to look at the safety and acceptability of a microbicide gel applied rectally," said Jim Pickett, IRMA Chair and Director of Advocacy at AIDS Foundation of Chicago. "This brings us another step closer to the development of safe and effective rectal microbicides for use during anal intercourse," he said.

Condoms are considered the gold standard for the prevention of HIV and STDs during sexual intercourse, but not all receptive partners are able or willing to use condoms every time. An act of anal intercourse that is not protected by a condom is 10 to 20 times more likely to result in HIV transmission compared to an act of unprotected vaginal intercourse, due to the fragility of the rectal lining and the large presence of cells targeted by HIV. New methods to protect against the sexual transmission of HIV are urgently needed. Strategies beyond condoms – such as vaccines, oral prevention, and microbicides – will provide individuals with more prevention options.

Microbicides – substances applied topically on the inside of the rectum or vagina – could potentially help prevent the transmission of HIV. The research and development of vaginal microbicide candidates is much more advanced than research on rectal microbicides. Tenofovir gel, for example, is a candidate microbicide specifically developed to prevent vaginal transmission of HIV. In a recent study known as CAPRISA 004, tenofovir gel was found to significantly reduce the risk of HIV among at-risk women who were instructed to use the gel before and after vaginal intercourse. In an ongoing, large-scale effectiveness trial called VOICE – Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic – researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) are testing daily use of tenofovir gel in African women, with results expected in 2013.

This new Phase I rectal microbicide study, known as MTN-007, aims to determine if rectal use of tenofovir gel is safe, and in particular, does not cause cells in the rectum to become more vulnerable to HIV. Investigators will also ask trial participants questions regarding the gel's desirability. MTN-007 will enroll 60 men and women at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Fenway Health in Boston. Leading the study is Ian McGowan, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh, who is also co-principal investigator of the MTN and serves as Scientific Vice-Chair of IRMA.

Little is known about tenofovir gel used rectally, but science is advancing our understanding. Laboratory and animal studies involving rectal application of tenofovir gel have suggested it's safe for testing in humans. In fact, MTN researchers have just completed the first Phase I trial with eighteen participants, called RMP-02/MTN-006, in collaboration with the Microbicide Development Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. While results of RMP-02/MTN-006 are not expected until early 2011, researchers have already recommended modifications to the gel's formulation. MTN-007 is evaluating the new formulation, which still contains the same amount of active drug – 1% percent tenofovir – but has a lower concentration of glycerin (an additive found in many types of products) to make it more amenable for rectal use.

"It is very encouraging to see the rectal microbicide field moving forward," said IRMA Community Vice-Chair Kadiri Audu, who also heads up the IRMA Nigeria chapter, "and I look forward to trials taking place in Africa as well." He continued, "Gay men and other men who have sex with men in Africa have high rates of HIV infection, and we know unprotected heterosexual anal sex is relatively common on the continent and contributes a sizable number of HIV infections. As much as we need vaginal microbicides to give women an extra prevention tool, rectal microbicides for the women, men, and transgender individuals who engage in anal intercourse are absolutely essential as well."

While the rectal microbicide field has gained significant momentum, more focus and resources are necessary. In 2010, U.S. $7.2 million is being spent globally on rectal microbicide research. IRMA has calculated that annual investments must increase by 40% from 2011 – 2014, to U.S. $10 million/year and must increase further to U.S. $44 million (a six-fold increase) in the years 2015 – 2020 to ensure a minimum of candidate products are moving through the research pipeline into advanced testing for effectiveness.

Read the press release from the MTN:
Promising HIV prevention microbicide tenofovir gel being tested for safety of rectal use

Pitt working on microbicides formulated as films/strips

via Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, by Luis Fabregas

Borrowing a concept used to make breath strips, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are developing a quick-dissolving vaginal film containing an HIV-blocking drug, officials said Wednesday.

"The idea is that it would dissolve quickly in the vagina to prevent HIV infection," said Sharon Hillier, a senior investigator at Magee-Womens Research Institute and co-principal investigator of the project. "It's a bit of an old technique, like the Listerine breath mint strip, but it's a whole new way of delivering the drug potentially in a less expensive way."

Read the rest.

Microbicides: the quest for user-friendly formulations

via Aidsmap, by Gus Cairns

"Finally, a team have developed a vaginal microbicide as a film smaller than a stick of gum and as thin as a sheet of paper."

A large number of presentations at the Microbicides 2010 Conference in Pittsburgh documented the development of microbicides very different from gels or creams. Vaginal rings, quick-dissolve pills and thin films are all being tested.

Vaginal ring drug delivery

An intravaginal ring made from the plastic ethyl-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and loaded with the two drugs dapivirine and maraviroc – already found to enhance each other’s potency - can deliver therapeutic levels of both drugs for as long as a month, according to test-tube studies. Fifteen days after being placed in a water/alcohol mixture, the ring was delivering half a gram of dapivirine and a gram of maraviroc per day.

Vaginal/rectal tablets

The tablet is ‘bioadhesive’ – this means the voluminous gel gets the drug delivered to all the mucous surfaces needed and then dissolves away. It also binds the drug to the mucous membranes, concentrating it at the surfaces needed and guaranteeing a consistent level of drug over 8-12 hours.

Quick-dissolve film

The film is made of a thin polyvinyl alcohol polymer, a water-soluble synthetic plastic used in multiple consumer and biomedical products, including contraceptive films, contact lens solutions and mouthwash strips.

Read the rest.

IRMA oughta be in pictures - Microbicides 2010 paparazzi

Check out more pics on our Flickr page Microbicides 2010 a la IRMA - including lots from the wonderful launch party of our new report - From Promise to Product: Advancing Rectal Microbicide Research and Advocacy.

HIV prevention research focus of International Microbicides Conference May 22-25

via EurekAlert!


HIV prevention researchers, policy makers and community advocates from more than 35 countries will be in Pittsburgh, May 22-25 to attend the 2010 International Microbicides Conference (M2010).

Unlike previous meetings, M2010 will encompass a broader spectrum of HIV prevention research and related topics, hence the theme Building Bridges in HIV Prevention. In addition to discussing the latest research on microbicides – substances designed to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV when applied topically on the inside of the rectum or vagina – M2010 will also be a forum for discussions on male circumcision, pre-exposure prophylaxis and vaccines.

The size of the meeting, with about 1,000 participants, will afford media easy access to the field's leading investigators and newsmakers in global health, basic science, behavioral science and clinical trials research. Many of the meeting's participants are working on the front lines of the epidemic in parts of the world hardest hit by HIV and AIDS.

The scientific program includes six invited plenary and state-of-the-art lectures, nine cross-cutting symposia on emerging issues and trends in HIV prevention and more than 500 oral and poster abstract presentations reporting on original research. Among the findings to be presented and topics to be covered at M2010 are:

• Results of the first clinical trial to evaluate the safety of a vaginal microbicide in pregnant women and findings from a large prospective study in seven African countries looking at whether pregnancy can increase the risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV.
• Results of studies looking at the behavioral and biological factors that may help explain why HIV rates are so high among men and women who engage in unprotected receptive anal intercourse. These include studies looking at the effects of different over-the-counter lubricants on HIV risk and research focused on the development of rectal microbicides.
• New research aimed at expanding the pipeline of antiretrovirals (ARVs) for prevention, including results of the first primate study evaluating an integrase inhibitor as a topical microbicide. ARVs are drugs used in the treatment of HIV, and ARV-based prevention approaches are being tested in several ongoing clinical trials, with results of completed trials expected in the coming months. One concern is that these studies all involve the same drug. The challenges and promise of ARV-based strategies are key issues to be discussed.

All sessions will take place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. A staffed press room will be available on site and media briefings will be held each day, with some available by teleconference. Information about media registration is available at http://www.microbicides2010.org/general-media-information.

The scientific program will be posted later this week at www.microbicides2010.org To receive e-mail updates and news releases or to request abstracts or additional details about the meeting, please contact Lisa Rossi at rossil@upmc.edu or +1-412-916-3315.

M2010 is the sixth biennial meeting of the International Microbicides Conference and marks the first meeting in the United States since the 2000 inaugural gathering in Washington, D.C. Other previous meetings have been in Antwerp, Belgium; London, England; Cape Town, South Africa; and New Delhi, India. Co-chairs of this year's conference are Sharon Hillier, Ph.D., and Ian McGowan, M.D., Ph.D., both of the University of Pittsburgh; and Gita Ramjee, Ph.D., of the Medical Research Council of South Africa.

More than 33 million people are living with HIV, more than two thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UNAIDS. The number of new infections continues to outstrip advances in treatment: For every two people who begin treatment, five are newly infected. Globally, women account for half of all HIV infections, and in sub-Saharan Africa, women comprise 60 percent of all infected adults. Young women are especially vulnerable. In southern Africa women aged 15 to 24 are at least three times more likely than their male peers to be infected with HIV. Meanwhile, men who have sex with men (MSM) bear the burden of the epidemic in the United States and in other parts of the world, such as Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MSM of all races is the only risk group in the United States in which new HIV infections are increasing. Black heterosexual women represent the third highest risk group in the United States, after white MSM and black MSM, respectively.

[IRMA is going to be at this meeting in a BIG way - for one, we will be releasing our 2010 report here, titled "From Promise to Product: Advancing Rectal Microbicide Research and Advocacy."]

Please Register Today: M2010 Pre-Conference Advocates Workshop

 

M2010 Pre-Conference Workshop
Saturday, 22 May 2010, 8:30am - 3:30pm

Westin Convention Center Hotel, Pittsburgh 1000 Penn Avenue, 

Pittsburgh, PA, USA 

Westmoreland Room, 2nd Floor 

(Lunch will be provided)

The Global Campaign for Microbicides (GCM), in close partnership with the African Microbicide Advocacy Group (AMAG), AVAC (Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention Research), the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA), and the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force (PATF), will hold a free, day-long pre-conference workshop before the start of the official opening ceremony of the 2010 International Microbicides Conference (M2010).

Register here - space is limited.

Dr. Salim Abdool Karim (pictured) of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) will give the keynote speech, guiding participants through an overview of HIV prevention research science and advocacy.

This workshop will feature seasoned advocates and researchers from the HIV prevention research field who will provide new and experienced advocates, community representatives, and trial staff with the latest updates and previews on topics to be presented at the conference. An array of thematic skills-building sessions also will be conducted including an introduction to new prevention technologies and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a short course on prevention research literacy and ethics, and training on advocacy and campaign building.

The M2010 Pre-Conference Workshop will take place from 8:30am to 3:30pm at the Westin Convention Center Hotel, located directly across from the site of M2010 (lunch will be provided).

Directions: The Westin Hotel (Westin Convention Center Hotel, Pittsburgh) is directly connected to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center by a skywalk.

REGISTER TODAY!

If you wish to attend the M2010 Pre-Conference Workshop, please register here.
Space for the M2010 Pre-Conference Workshop is limited and will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Registrations will be accepted through 1 May 2010 or until we have reached capacity. 

PLEASE NOTE

* The Pre-Conference Workshop is scheduled to end before the official M2010 Conference Opening Ceremony scheduled for the evening of 22nd May 2010.

* We are not able to offer financial support to attend the pre-conference workshop. We welcome those already planning to attend M2010 to register for this workshop and to consider booking your flights in time to participate in this pre-conference event.

* After the conference, we will make the Pre-Conference Workshop materials and presentations available online for those unable to attend the conference and/or the workshop.

Microbicides 2010 - January 22 is DEADLINE DAY

Deadline for submission of 

scholarship applications and abstracts is

January 22, 2010 at 6pm EST 

EARLY REGISTRATION has been extended to February 15

SAVE on your conference registration fee! Register for the conference and submit your payment by January 22, 2010, to save over USD$50. Registration fees increase after 6:00 p.m. (eastern time) on January 22, 2010.

Visit the M2010 website.

Other key dates

February 12, 2010 at 6pm EST
    * Notification of scholarship awards and abstract acceptances

April 15, 2010 at 6pm EST
    * Deadline for submission of late breaker abstracts
    * Conference registration and housing deadline

Hope you will join many IRMA members (and over 1,500  other scientists, advocates, policy makers and funders) at this important, exciting conference on microbicides and other new prevention technologies - May 22 -25, 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Visit the M2010 website and submit your abstract, apply for a scholarship, and register -  don't delay - January 22 is right around the corner.

$17 million grant to help Pitt researcher develop anti-HIV gel

via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, by David Templeton

Highlight:

Dr. McGowan said the size of the NIH grants reflects a change in Washington, D.C., where the Obama administration has shown greater interest in funding HIV-prevention research.

"The Bush administration had a very high level of discomfort embracing HIV prevention research in men," he said. "But I think in the Obama administration that's a non-issue. They regard domestic HIV prevention in men who have sex with men as an important research priority."

It also reflects growing awareness that not only men have anal sex.

"There's increasing evidence that men and women have anal sex, too," he said. "If we are interested in HIV prevention, we have to look at options for both men and women."

 Read more.

Pitt Receives Grants Totaling $17.5 million for Two HIV Prevention Projects: Multicenter Studies Will Develop Rectal Microbicides and Assess Their Acceptance

via Erie Gay News

A multicenter research team led by the University of Pittsburgh is developing microbicides specifically designed to prevent rectal transmission of HIV, with the further aim of assessing their safety and efficacy in lab and early clinical studies.

Funded by an $11 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, the Combination HIV Antiretroviral Rectal Microbicide (CHARM) program includes a project that will reformulate existing antiretroviral drugs into topical preparations that can be applied to the rectum, said principal investigator Ian McGowan, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of medicine and of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and an investigator at the Magee-Womens Research Institute.

“Unprotected receptive anal intercourse is the highest-risk sexual activity for HIV transmission,” Dr. McGowan noted. “Vaginal microbicides already are being extensively studied, and a similar approach might be a very effective way of preventing rectal HIV transmission. It will be critical to determine whether vaginal microbicides are safe and effective when used in the rectum, and also to develop rectal-specific products.”

Read the rest.

January 4 Deadlines for Microbicides 2010

The Scientific Program Committee for the 2010 International Microbicides Conference (M2010) invites papers of high quality in the areas of HIV prevention research.  Abstract submissions are peer-reviewed for scientific content, logical presentation, timeliness, and current interest of the topic to the scientific community. IRMA members are highly encouraged to submit.

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Authors should submit abstracts no later than 6:00 p.m. (eastern time) on January 4, 2010.

Click here for more info on submitting an abstract. Please let IRMA know if you submit something.

Click here for scholarship information. Scholarship applications are also due January 4, 2010. IRMA members are highly encouraged to submit an application. IRMA will have limited funds to help members attend the conference as well - but will be predicated on an individual  unsuccessfully applying for M2010 support. More info on IRMA's scholarship program will be rolled out in the new year. In the meantime, please support the program and chip in via the widget located on the upper left hand side of this blog. Thanks to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, we have $3,000 already secured for IRMA scholarships. Anything you can chip in will supplement that amount. THANKS! Read more about this here.

Click here to register.

We look forward to seeing you there.

SAVE THE DATE - Microbicides 2010

See you in Pittsburgh!