HIV SUCCESS Cohorts
NIDA supports nine dynamic cohorts that examine the most important issues with respect to substance use and HIV risk and acquisition for those who do not have HIV and engagement in care, prevention of on-ward transmission and health outcomes among people with HIV (PWH). Each cohort has a unique focus and population, which helps to develop inclusive knowledge of risk and prevention among people who use substances who are also at risk for or living with HIV.
ACCESS ALIVE Heart HYM + TRUTH JHHCC MASH mSTUDY RADAR VDUS
ACCESS
The AIDS Care Cohort to Evaluate Exposure to Survival Services (ACCESS) focuses on people with HIV (PWH) who also use illicit drugs in Vancouver, BC, Canada and the surrounding area. The focus of research has been understanding how social, economic and individual factors, as well as local policy, impacts the health and well-being of PWH who also use illicit drugs.
Recent studies have highlighted the impact of longitudinal non-injection crack cocaine use on higher HIV viral loads, demonstrated the minimum antiretroviral adherence required for HIV viral suppression among PWH who used illicit drugs and the impact of opioid agonist treatment on success in completing HIV care cascade progression. These studies can support realistic strategies to help PWH who also use illicit drugs in achieving the best HIV-related outcomes possible.
Cohort Information
| Principal Investigator: | MJ Miloy |
|---|---|
| Location: | Vancouver, BC, Canada |
| Number of Study Participants: | 857 |
| Year Started: | 2005 |
| Inclusion Criteria: | People with HIV who also use illicit substances |
| Cohort Website: | https://www.bccsu.ca/access/ |
Selected Recent Studies
Liang J, Nosova E, Reddon H, Nolan S, Socías E, Barrios R, Milloy MJ. Longitudinal patterns of illicit drug use, antiretroviral therapy exposure and plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load among HIV-positive people who use illicit drugs. AIDS (London, England). 2020 Jul 7;34(9):1389.
Stover S, Milloy MJ, Grant C, Fairbairn N, Socías ME. Estimating the minimum antiretroviral adherence required for plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load suppression among people living with HIV who use unregulated drugs. AIDS. 2022 Jul 15;36(9):1233-43.
Juwono S, Milloy MJ, JinCheol CH, Fairbairn N, Nolan S, Socías ME. Opioid agonist treatment improves progression through the HIV cascade of care among people living with HIV who use unregulated opioids. AIDS (London, England). 2022 Aug 8;36(10):1429.
Adams JW, Marshall BD, Salleh NA, Barrios R, Nolan S, Milloy MJ. Receipt of opioid agonist treatment halves the risk of HIV-1 RNA viral load rebound through improved ART adherence for HIV-infected women who use illicit drugs. Drug and alcohol dependence. 2020 Jan 1;206:107670.
Mitra S, Grant C, Nolan S, Mohd Salleh NA, Milloy MJ, Richardson L. Assessing the temporality between transitions onto opioid agonist therapy and engagement with antiretroviral therapy in a cohort of HIV-positive people who use opioids daily. AIDS and Behavior. 2022 Jun 1:1-0.
ALIVE
The AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) Study is the longest running NIDA cohort. ALIVE began in 1988 in order to understand the incidence and natural history of HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID). Now encompassing two cohorts ALIVE I, which includes people with HIV (PWH) who have a history of substance use, and ALIVE II which includes people with a history of substance use who do not have HIV, ALIVE examines current issues that people who use drugs (PWUD) face, including access to care, risks and outcomes.
Recent work has focused on longitudinal analyses demonstrating the value of following populations of people who inject drugs (PWID) over decades to understand evolving needs and outcomes. Of note, ALIVE demonstrated the penetration and impact of directly acting antivirals (DAAs) for HCV treatment, including a reduction in liver cirrhosis over time, and factors influencing DAA uptake both generally and during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting subpopulations that could use greater support for DAA uptake. Longitudinal analyses also highlighted a dramatic increase in incidence of fatal and non-fatal overdose from 2014-2019, consistent with the rise of synthetic opioid use. Overall, looking at mortality among PWID since 1988, ALIVE demonstrated that about 1/3 were from HIV and other infections, 1/3 were from chronic diseases and ¼ were from drug-related deaths; highlighting the need for a multipronged approach to health among PWID.
Cohort Information
| Principal Investigators: | Shruti Mehta and Greg Kirk |
|---|---|
| Location: | Baltimore, MD, USA |
| Number of Study Participants: | 4,671 |
| Year Started: | 1988 |
| Inclusion Criteria: | People who inject drugs, including those living with and without HIV |
Selected Recent Studies
Falade-Nwulia O, Sacamano P, McCormick SD, Yang C, Kirk G, Thomas D, Sulkowski M, Latkin C, Mehta SH. Individual and network factors associated with HCV treatment uptake among people who inject drugs. International Journal of Drug Policy. 2020 Apr 1;78:102714.
Genberg BL, Gicquelais RE, Astemborski J, Knight J, Buresh M, Sun J, German D, Thomas DL, Kirk GD, Mehta SH. Trends in fatal and nonfatal overdose by race among people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland from 1998 to 2019. Drug and alcohol dependence. 2021 Dec 1;229:109152.
Cepeda JA, Thomas DL, Astemborski J, Rudolph JE, Gicquelais R, Kirk GD, Mehta SH. Impact of hepatitis C treatment uptake on cirrhosis and mortality in persons who inject drugs: a longitudinal, community-based cohort study. Annals of internal medicine. 2022 Aug;175(8):1083-91.
Piggott DA, Bandeen-Roche K, Mehta SH, Brown TT, Yang H, Walston JD, Leng SX, Kirk GD. Frailty transitions, inflammation, and mortality among persons aging with HIV infection and injection drug use. AIDS (london, England). 2020 Jul 7;34(8):1217.
Sun J, Mehta SH, Astemborski J, Piggott DA, Genberg BL, Woodson‐Adu T, Benson EM, Thomas DL, Celentano DD, Vlahov D, Kirk GD. Mortality among people who inject drugs: a prospective cohort followed over three decades in Baltimore, MD, USA. Addiction. 2022 Mar;117(3):646-55.
Heart
Uniquely developed to examine the impact of HIV on coronary artery disease (CAD), including morphological changes, and the additional burden or cocaine use, the Heart study, includes aging participants with and without HIV who have never used cocaine and those who have a history of cocaine use in each group. Extension of research activities include assessing the impact of HIV and/or cocaine use on cognitive function and brain morphology. Morphological characteristics of the cardiovascular and neurologic systems are mapped using MRI combined with rich clinical, cognitive assessment and behavioral data.
Recent publications have demonstrated that cocaine use in combination with HIV-infection appears to have a synergistic effect on CAD as compared to HIV infection alone. Early work on the impact of HIV and cocaine on neurocognitive impairment (NCI) has also revealed potential lower cognitive performance in people with HIV (PWH) with a history of cocaine use compared to those without, especially among women.
Cohort Information
| Principal Investigator: | Shenghan Lai |
|---|---|
| Location: | Baltimore, MD, USA |
| Number of Study Participants: | 1,429 |
| Year Started: | 2004 |
| Inclusion Criteria: | People who use and do not cocaine living with and without HIV |
| Cohort Website: |
Selected Recent Studies
Chen DH, Kolossváry M, Chen S, Lai H, Yeh HC, Lai S. Long-term cocaine use is associated with increased coronary plaque burden–a pilot study. The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse. 2020 Nov 1;46(6):805-11.
Kolossváry M, Celentano D, Gerstenblith G, Bluemke DA, Mandler RN, Fishman EK, Bhatia S, Chen S, Lai S, Lai H. HIV indirectly accelerates coronary artery disease by promoting the effects of risk factors: longitudinal observational study. Scientific reports. 2021 Nov 30;11(1):23110.
Kolossváry M, Bluemke DA, Fishman EK, Gerstenblith G, Celentano D, Mandler RN, Khalsa J, Bhatia S, Chen S, Lai S, Lai H. Temporal assessment of lesion morphology on radiological images beyond lesion volumes—a proof-of-principle study. European radiology. 2022 Dec;32(12):8748-60.
Jávorszky N, Homonnay B, Gerstenblith G, Bluemke D, Kiss P, Török M, Celentano D, Lai H, Lai S, Kolossváry M. Deep learning–based atherosclerotic coronary plaque segmentation on coronary CT angiography. European radiology. 2022 Oct;32(10):7217-26.
Lai H, Celentano DD, Treisman G, Khalsa J, Gerstenblith G, Page B, Mandler RN, Yang Y, Salmeron B, Bhatia S, Chen S. Cocaine Use May Moderate the Associations of HIV and Female Sex with Neurocognitive Impairment in a Predominantly African American Population Disproportionately Impacted by HIV and Substance Use. AIDS patient care and STDs. 2023 May 1;37(5):243-52.
HYM + TRUTH
Starting with the Healthy Young Men’s Study (HYM) in 2015 and combining the Transgender Youth of Color Study (TRUTH) in 2018, the HYM + TRUTH cohort uniquely focuses on the mental health, stigma and social-structural factors and their impact on HIV and substance use prevention and care among vulnerable youth who are at risk of multiple inequities. Detailed data collection on mental health and psychological experiences of participants, combined with detailed behavioral and laboratory data, along with banked biospecimens, positions HYM+TRUTH as a leading cohort for developing a unique understanding of the multidimensional challenges that youth of color who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender or non-binary face, as well as, insight into interventions to support health and well-being of this population.
Recent work has highlighted the profound impact of stigma, racism and life stressors on the mental health of young adults experiencing multiple stigmata, understanding the experience of sero-converters participation in the prevention and treatment HIV cascade, and the relation between sexual racism and substance use. HYM +TRUTH investigators have also examined the impact of family dynamics, specifically greater bonding with either a male or female parent reduced PrEP stigma among Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM).
Cohort Information
Selected Recent Studies
Boyd DT, Abubakari GM, Turner D, Ramos SR, Hill MJ, Nelson LE. The Influence of Family Bonding, Support, Engagement in Healthcare, on PrEP Stigma among Young Black and Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Path Analysis. Children (Basel). 2022 Mar 1;9(3):330. doi: 10.3390/children9030330. PMID: 35327703; PMCID: PMC8947403.
Layland EK, Maggs JL, Kipke MD, Bray BC. Intersecting racism and homonegativism among sexual minority men of color: Latent class analysis of multidimensional stigma with subgroup differences in health and sociostructural burdens. Soc Sci Med. 2022 Jan;293:114602. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114602. Epub 2021 Nov 25. PMID: 34933242; PMCID: PMC9020748.
Behavioral Health Among Young Black and Latino Sexual Minority Men. LGBT Health. DOI: 10.1089/lgbt.2021.0230
Layland EK, Bray BC, Kipke MD, Maggs J. Intersectional Stigma Subgroups Differ in Unhealthy Drinking and Disordered Marijuana Use Among Black and Latino Cisgender Sexual Minority Men. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109652
Goldbach JT, Kipke MD. What affects timely linkage to HIV Care for Young Men of Color who have sex with Men? Young Men’s Experiences Accessing HIV Care after Seroconverting. AIDS and Behavior. 2022 Jun 7:1-4. DOI: 10.1007/s10461-022-03727-0
JHHCC
The Johns Hopkins HIV Clinical Cohort (JHHCC) focuses on people with HIV (PWH) who are in care in Baltimore City (an EHE target jurisdiction) and the surrounding area. The JHHCC is majority African-American, has over one-third women and has a high proportion of economically disadvantaged PWH, all key populations of the EHE. As a cohort integrated into clinical care, the JHHCC takes advantage of the opportunity to collect information from the clinical care record to observe the natural history of care engagement, referral, treatment, clinical progression, occurrence of co-morbid disease, and the impact of substance use behaviors on these measures. In addition to clinical data, JHHCC collects robust patient reported outcomes (PROs) and measures substance use and dependence, mental health, economic and housing conditions, food insecurity, incarceration, and quality of life among others. Well-curated information, such as adjudicated outcomes for cardiovascular events, and geocoding to incorporate determinants of health based on neighborhood characteristics, such as the concentration of poverty or crime, transportation, availability of food, etc. enable researchers to examine syndemics and the dynamics of different factors in conjunction with substance use that may impact the health and well-being of PWH. Additionally, JHHCC contributes data to a number of data collaboratives and agencies including the state health department, HRSA (Ryan White Program) and the CDC that can lead to effective changes in care, policy and interventions to support the health and well-being of PWH.
Recent studies have shown that a history of substance use disorders, regardless of current substance use, was associated with having unsuppressed HIV viral load. Furthermore, treatment with buprenorphine for substance use resulted in a greater likelihood of being virally suppressed. Additionally, the JHHCC team has used cohort data to develop a Bayesian predictive algorithm using current PROs to predict future mental health and substance use events. As the JHHCC is a clinical cohort, the team was also able to evaluate strategies to improve primary HIV care visits during the COVID pandemic, finding that use of telehealth increased visits for younger people, Black people, PWH who had detectable HIV viremia and women above pre-pandemic rates, suggesting the need for a range of visit options to create equity in care access.
Cohort Information
| Principal Investigator: | Richard Moore |
|---|---|
| Location: | Baltimore, MD, USA |
| Number of Study Participants: | 1293 |
| Year Started: | 1989 |
| Inclusion Criteria: | People with HIV in care |
Selected Recent Studies
Kim J, Lesko CR, Fojo AT, Keruly JC, Moore RD, Chander G, Lau B. The effect of buprenorphine on human immunodeficiency virus viral suppression. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2021 Dec 1;73(11):1951-6.
Fojo AT, Lesko CR, Benke KS, Chander G, Lau B, Moore RD, Zandi PP, Zeger SL. A learning algorithm for predicting mental health symptoms and substance use. Journal of psychiatric research. 2021 Feb 1;134:22-9.
El-Nahal WG, Shen NM, Keruly JC, Jones JL, Fojo AT, Lau B, Manabe YC, Moore RD, Gebo KA, Lesko CR, Chander G. Telemedicine and visit completion among people with HIV during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic compared with prepandemic. Aids. 2022 Mar 1;36(3):355-62.
Lesko CR, Falade‐Nwulia OO, Pytell JD, Hutton HE, Fojo AT, Keruly JC, Moore RD, Chander G. Joint effects of substance use disorders and recent substance use on HIV viral non‐suppression among people engaged in HIV care in an urban clinic, 2014–2019. Addiction. 2023 Jul 25.
Pytell JD, Fojo AT, Keruly JC, Snow LN, Falade-Nwulia O, Moore RD, Chander G, Lesko CR. Measuring time in buprenorphine treatment stages among people with HIV and opioid use disorder by retention definition and its association with cocaine and hazardous alcohol use. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. 2023 Dec;18(1):1-1.
MASH
The Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort focuses on understanding the impact of cocaine use on people with HIV (PWH) and people with HIV and HCV coinfection, including long-term chronic impact on cognitive and liver function among other comorbidities, such as diabetes. Laboratory analyses are combined with detailed behavioral and diet data, cognitive assessments, and clinical information on PWH who do and do not use illicit substances to support multiple different studies teasing apart the impact of substance use and HIV on important clinical outcomes. The MASH cohort remarkably includes a large proportion of women living with HIV who identify as Hispanic women, which is an understudied subgroup of people with HIV (PWH). Similarly, the impact of both substance use and long-term HIV infection and the combination of the two is understudied in women, making MASH an important cohort for understanding the health of women at the intersection of substance use and HIV.
Recent studies have examined the impact of cocaine use on gut permeability, microbiome and microbial translocation, revealing that cocaine may increase inflammation and pathogenic states in the instestines of PWH. Additional recent studies have shown an association between heroin and fentanyl use and higher cognitive impairment, as well as higher depression and liver fibrosis.
Cohort Information
| Principal Investigator: | Marianna Baum |
|---|---|
| Location: | Maimi, FL, USA |
| Number of Study Participants: | 1,500 |
| Year Started: | 2015 |
| Inclusion Criteria: | People with and without HIV who do and do not use illicit drugs |
| Cohort Website: |
Selected Recent Studies
Zarini G, Sales Martinez S, Campa A, Sherman K, Tamargo J, Hernandez Boyer J, Teeman C, Johnson A, Degarege A, Greer P, Liu Q, Huang Y, Mandler R, Choi D, Baum MK. Sex Differences, Cocaine Use, and Liver Fibrosis Among African Americans in the Miami Adult Studies on HIV Cohort. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2020 Sep;29(9):1176-1183. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2019.7954. Epub 2020 Jan 31. PMID: 32004098; PMCID: PMC7520913.
Baum MK, Tamargo JA, Ehman RL, Sherman KE, Chen J, Liu Q, Mandler RN, Teeman C, Martinez SS, Campa A. Heroin use is associated with liver fibrosis in the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 Mar 1;220:108531. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108531. Epub 2021 Jan 19. PMID: 33508691; PMCID: PMC7889727.
Tamargo JA MS, Campa A PhD, Martinez SS PhD, Li T, Sherman KE MD, PhD, Zarini G PhD, Meade CS PhD, Mandler RN MD, Baum MK PhD. Cognitive Impairment among People Who Use Heroin and Fentanyl: Findings from the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) Cohort. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2021 Jul-Aug;53(3):215-223. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2020.1850946. Epub 2020 Nov 22. PMID: 33225878; PMCID: PMC8140063.
Martinez SS, Stebliankin V, Hernandez J, Martin H, Tamargo J, Rodriguez JB, Teeman C, Johnson A, Seminario L, Campa A, Narasimhan G, Baum MK. Multiomic analysis reveals microbiome-related relationships between cocaine use and metabolites. AIDS. 2022 Dec 1;36(15):2089-2099. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003363. Epub 2022 Aug 18. PMID: 36382433; PMCID: PMC9673179.
Hernandez J, Tamargo JA, Sales Martinez S, Martin HR, Campa A, Sékaly RP, Bordi R, Sherman KE, Rouster SD, Meeds HL, Khalsa JH, Mandler RN, Lai S, Baum MK. Cocaine use associated gut permeability and microbial translocation in people living with HIV in the Miami Adult Study on HIV (MASH) cohort. PLoS One. 2022 Oct 10;17(10):e0275675. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275675. PMID: 36215260; PMCID: PMC9550062.
mSTUDY
The MSM and Substances Cohort at UCLA Linking Infections Noting Effects (MASCULINE or the “mSTUDY”) focuses on the effects of substance use on sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV risk and acquisition, biological impact of substance use on mucosa and the effect of substance use on the inflammatory response in people with HIV (PWH). Due to lower representation in previous studies, yet higher risk of HIV infection, the mSTUDY has focused on recruiting Black and Latino identified men who have sex with men (MSM). mSTUDY combines clinical wellness examinations with detailed behavioral questionnaires to understand factors that impact the health and risk for HIV among MSM of color.
Recent work focusing on rectal STIs have revealed differing inflammatory markers in rectal mucosa of MSM with STI by methaphemaine (MA) use and that reporting MA use was associated with reporting more receptive anal intercourse (RAI) partners and more RAI partners was associated with increased risk of rectal STI. An additional studies of MA use among MSM in the mSTUDY also revealed MA use was higher among those who were diagnosed with a rectal STI than those who were not and that stimulant use during sexual activity was associated with transactional sex.
Cohort Information
| Principal Investigator: | Pamina Gorbach & Steve Shoptaw |
|---|---|
| Location: | Los Angeles, CA, USA |
| Number of Study Participants: | 540 |
| Year Started: | 2013 |
| Inclusion Criteria: | Black and Latino men who has sex with men aged 18-45 |
| Cohort Website: | http://themstudy.gorbach.ph.ucla.edu/ |
Selected Recent Studies
Blair CS, Needleman J, Javanbakht M, Comulada WS, Ragsdale A, Bolan R, Shoptaw S, Gorbach PM. Examining the Relative Contributions of Methamphetamine Use, Depression, and Sexual Risk Behavior on Rectal Gonorrhea/Chlamydia Among a Cohort of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Los Angeles, California. Sex Transm Dis. 2022 Mar 1;49(3):216-222. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001568. PMID: 34654768; PMCID: PMC8821317.
Blair CS, Fulcher JA, Cho GD, Gorbach PM, Shoptaw S, Clark JL. Brief Report: Impact of Methamphetamine Use and Rectal STIs on Systemic and Rectal Mucosal Inflammation. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2023 Apr 1;92(4):281-285. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000003143. PMID: 36515912; PMCID: PMC9974870.
Javanbakht M, Miller AP, Moran A, Ragsdale A, Bolan R, Shoptaw S, Gorbach PM. Changes in Substance Use and Sexual Behaviors After a Sexually Transmitted Infection Diagnosis Among a Cohort of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Los Angeles, CA. Sex Transm Dis. 2023 Feb 1;50(2):112-120. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001733. Epub 2022 Nov 6. PMID: 36342834; PMCID: PMC9839596.
Blair CS, Needleman J, Javanbakht M, Comulada WS, Ragsdale A, Bolan R, Shoptaw S, Gorbach PM. Risk Behaviors Associated with Patterns of Sexualized Stimulant and Alcohol Use among Men Who Have Sex with Men: a Latent Class Analysis. J Urban Health. 2022 Apr;99(2):293-304. doi: 10.1007/s11524-021-00600-8. Epub 2022 Jan 14. PMID: 35028876; PMCID: PMC9033896.
Shoptaw S, Li MJ, Javanbakht M, Ragsdale A, Goodman-Meza D, Gorbach PM. Frequency of reported methamphetamine use linked to prevalence of clinical conditions, sexual risk behaviors, and social adversity in diverse men who have sex with men in Los Angeles. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 Mar 1;232:109320. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109320. Epub 2022 Jan 19. PMID: 35093681; PMCID: PMC8885921.
RADAR
Focusing on ending the HIV epidemic, RADAR takes a multilevel perspective that incorporates biological, dyadic, network, and developmental information to gain a greater understanding of sexually transmitted infections (STI), substance use, and romantic partnerships and their contribution to HIV transmission. Focused young men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women in Chicago, one of the urban epicenters of the US HIV epidemic, RADAR seeks to develop a robust epidemiological understanding of HIV transmission in order to inform implementation strategies to end HIV transmission. This work is supported by detailed measures on individual behavioral, partnership and network level data from questionnaires, combined with biological assessments, allowing for robust longitudinal assessments of pre-, acute, and post- HIV infection analyses. The study is unique in that racially diverse MSM and transgender women are enrolled between the ages of 16-20 and followed longitudinally.
Recent RADAR studies focusing on use of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for reducing HIV transmission, have demonstrated associations between having health insurance, a partner with HIV, or being single or in an open relationship, as compared to a monogamous relationship, and PrEP re-initiation and that young people described using multiple strategies and maintaining a positive outlook to respond to barriers to PrEP use. Furthermore, agent based models using RADAR data have suggested optimal levels of antiretroviral adherence and PrEP adherence required to achieve a 90% reduction in HIV transmission by 2023. In addition to scientific finding, RADAR investigators have recently developed new tools to support easy data collection on social and contact networks and validated several unique measures (e.g., microaggressions).
Cohort Information
| Principal Investigator: | Brian Mustanski |
|---|---|
| Location: | Chicago, IL, USA |
| Number of Study Participants: | 1,200 |
| Year Started: | 2014 |
| Inclusion Criteria: | Young men who have sex with men and transgender women |
| Cohort Website: | https://isgmh.northwestern.edu/our-research/projects-and-studies/radar/ |
Selected Recent Studies
Mustanski B, Ryan DT, Spinelli MA, Gandhi M, Newcomb ME. Urine point-Of-care tenofovir test demonstrates strong predictive clinical and research utility. AIDS. 2023. DOI: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003710
Schrock JM, McDade TW, D’Aquila RT, Mustanski B. Does body mass index explain the apparent anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis use? Results From a cohort study of sexual and gender minority youth. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2022;233:109344; PMCID: PMC8988174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109344
Swann G, Bettin E, Ryan DT, Clifford A, Newcomb ME, Whitton SW, Mustanski B. The Sexual Orientation Microaggression Inventory Short Form (SOMI-SF): Validation in Three Samples of Racially/Ethnically Diverse Sexual Minority Youth. Sex Res Social Policy. 2023 Jun;20(2):589-598. doi: 10.1007/s13178-022-00695-x. Epub 2022 Feb 22. PMID: 37637938; PMCID: PMC10454520.
Xavier Hall CD, Newcomb ME, Dyar C, Mustanski B. Predictors of Re-Initiation of Daily Oral Preexposure Prophylaxis Regimen After Discontinuation. AIDS Behav. 2022 Sep;26(9):2931-2940. doi: 10.1007/s10461-022-03625-5. Epub 2022 Mar 10. PMID: 35267107; PMCID: PMC8907393.
Vermeer W, Gurkan C, Hjorth A, Benbow N, Mustanski BM, Kern D, Brown CH, Wilensky U. Agent-based model projections for reducing HIV infection among MSM: Prevention and care pathways to end the HIV epidemic in Chicago, Illinois. PLoS One. 2022 Oct 17;17(10):e0274288. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274288. PMID: 36251657; PMCID: PMC9576079.
VDUS
The Vancouver Drug Use Study (V-DUS) brings together the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS), started in 1996, and the At-Risk Youth Study (ARYS), started in 2005, cohorts to dynamically observe evolving patterns of substance use from initiation and early use of any substance in ARYS to injection use of substances in VIDUS and how these impact participants risk for acquiring HIV and other health-related issues. Research within V-DUS not only focuses on individual risk factor epidemiology around substance use and HIV, but dynamically examines the impact of local policies and interventions on individual behaviors, local substance circulation and risk for HIV acquisition and other health concerns.
V-DUS has been serving as a key epidemiological data source for a range of public health policies and programs in the ongoing toxic drug/overdose crisis across Canada and the US as well as to help end the HIV epidemic in this region. Immediately after the Provincial Health Officer in British Columbia declared a public health emergency due to the rising unregulated drug toxicity/overdose deaths in April 2016, V-DUS adopted urine drug screens to the data collection procedures, resulting in a series of peer-reviewed publications characterizing the emergent exposure to fentanyl in the unregulated drug supply among people who use drugs in Vancouver and providing recommendations for related health education and interventions.
Recent studies from VIDUS have demonstrated health benefits associated with the expansion of supervised consumption sites in Vancouver since 2016, and collaborated on an international research project that estimated causal effects of comprehensive needle and syringe program and opioid agonist therapy (OAT) on the reduction of HIV and HCV incidence. While these studies provide important scientific evidence to support the adaptation of these interventions internationally, other recent studies have shown the increasing use of crystal methamphetamine and its negative impacts on OAT-related outcomes, indicating the urgent need to address polysubstance use in OAT and increase evidence-based treatment and care options for stimulant use. Further, recent studies from ARYS have also exhibited concerning trends related to OAT among young people who use opioids, including extremely low interest in buprenorphine-naloxone and high discontinuation rates of methadone maintenance treatment, and highlighted the importance of improving addiction treatments for young people and ensuring robust HIV prevention interventions for those who continue regular unregulated opioid use. In summary, V-DUS studies demonstrate a breadth of findings that could support public policy and intervention programs to help address both the HIV epidemic and toxic drug crisis.
Cohort Information
| Principal Investigator: | Kanna Hayashi & Kora DeBeck |
|---|---|
| Location: | Vancouver, BC, Canada |
| Number of Study Participants: | 1800 |
| Year Started: | 1996 |
| Inclusion Criteria: | VIDUS: People ≥18 years residing in the Greater Vancouver area who injected drugs in the previous month and do not have HIV. ARYS: People aged 14-26 years old residing in the Greater Vancouver area who have used drugs other than cannabis in the past month and are street involved. |
| Cohort Websites: | https://www.bccsu.ca/vidus/ https://www.bccsu.ca/arys/ |
Selected Recent Studies
Hayashi K, Milloy MJJ, Lysyshyn M, DeBeck K, Nosova E, Wood E, Kerr T. Substance use patterns associated with recent exposure to fentanyl among people who inject drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A cross-sectional urine toxicology screening study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018;183:1–6.
Socías ME, Grant C, Hayashi K, Bardwell G, Kennedy MC, Milloy MJ, Kerr T. The use of diverted pharmaceutical opioids is associated with reduced risk of fentanyl exposure among people using unregulated drugs in Vancouver, Canada. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 Sep 25;228:109109.
van Santen DK, Lodi S, Dietze P, van den Boom W, Hayashi K, Dong H, Cui Z, Maher L, Hickman M, Boyd A, Prins M. Comprehensive needle and syringe program and opioid agonist therapy reduce HIV and hepatitis c virus acquisition among people who inject drugs in different settings: A pooled analysis of emulated trials. Addiction. 2023 Jan 29;
Cui Z, Hayashi K, Bach P, Dong H, Milloy MJ, Kerr T. Predictors of crystal methamphetamine use initiation or re-initiation among people receiving opioid agonist therapy: A prospective cohort study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 Nov 1;240:109624.
Mackay L, Bach P, Milloy MJ, Cui Z, Kerr T, Hayashi K. The relationship between crystal methamphetamine use and methadone retention in a prospective cohort of people who use drugs. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 Aug 1;225:108844.
Pilarinos A, Bingham B, Kwa Y, Joe R, Grant C, Fast D, Buxton JA, DeBeck K. Interest in using buprenorphine-naloxone among a prospective cohort of street-involved young people in Vancouver, Canada. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2023 May;148:209005.