HANC Newsletter | September 2023
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The Office of HIV/AIDS Network Coordination (HANC) is located at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA. We acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Duwamish, Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.
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Remembering Dr. Stephaun Wallace: A Legacy of Advocacy and Inspiration
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HANC mourns the loss of an extraordinary leader and colleague, Dr. Stephaun Elite Wallace, who passed away on August 5, 2023. Dr. Wallace's impactful career spanned the realms of research epidemiology, public health, and social justice, culminating in his role as the Director of External Relations at the HVTN. Dr. Wallace's legacy as a thoughtful, dedicated, and compassionate leader will continue to inspire us all.
Last week, to commemorate the memory of Dr. Wallace and honor his remarkable work, friends and extended family organized a simultaneous memorial balloon release in multiple cities across the US, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, and Seattle. During the Seattle memorial balloon release, which was hosted by POCAAN at the
HIV Memorial Pathway, Gail Broder, of the HVTN, and Russell Campbell, HANC Director, shared their memories of Dr. Wallace.
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HANC Staff Retreat 2023: A Day of Reflection and Strategic Planning
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On August 9, 2023, the HANC team convened in Seattle, Washington, for our annual in-person staff retreat. During the retreat our team engaged in team-building activities, took time to reflect on our past achievements, brainstormed solutions for ongoing challenges, discussed long-term goals, and charted a path for a successful year ahead. Part of the retreat was held in Dr. Jeffrey Schouten's garden (HANC Consultant/former HANC Director) which served as a perfect refuge for rejuvenation and growth, much like for the plants it houses.
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Streamlining Financial Disclosures: HANC Adopts AAMC's Convey System
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As of May 30, 2023, HANC has switched to a new financial disclosure collection system called Convey. The former disclosure site (fd.hanc.info) was taken offline on May 30, 2023. Over the course of the next few months, Network investigators will receive emails that provide more information about the new financial disclosure collection system. Convey, a global disclosure system developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC),
will help us centralize and streamline the data collection and review process. Network investigators will receive information on how to create their personal AAMC Convey account. Please monitor your email for these important instructions. Learn more about Convey and its system by watching this brief video demonstration.
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ACTG Announces Publication of REPRIEVE Trial in New England Journal of Medicine and Presentation at IAS 2023
In July, ACTG announced the publication of “Pitavastatin to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease in HIV Infection” in the New England Journal of Medicine. This publication coincided with the symposium “The REPRIEVE trial: Developing a Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Strategy for People Living with HIV,” which took place in July at IAS 2023 in Brisbane, Australia. The publication and presentation reported the key findings from REPRIEVE that participants who took pitavastatin calcium (a daily statin pill that lowers cholesterol) reduced their risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 35 percent compared with those receiving a placebo over a median duration of five years of follow up. Full announcement
here.
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No updates from the HVTN in this month's HANC Newsletter; please check back for updates in next month's edition.
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2024 HPTN Annual Meeting Announced
The 2024 HPTN Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place at the JW Marriott on June 14-18, 2024, in Washington, D.C. We are planning for an in-person meeting with a virtual participation option for those unable or who choose not to attend in person. The Annual Meeting will feature several plenaries, presentations, and discussions regarding HIV prevention research and interactive question and answer sessions.
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2023 IMPAACT Annual Meeting: Registration is Open!
The 2023 IMPAACT Annual Meeting is now accepting registrations. The hybrid event will take place from 22-27 October in Washington, D.C. Participants can expect a mixture of plenary sessions, panel discussions, and networking opportunities to benefit researchers, study staff, community representatives, network stakeholders, and advocates alike. Visit the
IMPAACT Network website to register, view an early agenda, find travel information, and more.
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Call for Applications: IMPAACT 2023 Early Career Investigator Program
The application process for the IMPAACT 2023 Early Career Investigator (ECI) program
is now open. The goal of the ECI program is to support early career investigators in the completion of a project using data or samples generated by IMPAACT Network studies. Through the program, early career investigators will build research skills and support IMPAACT’s goal to improve health outcomes for infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant and postpartum people who are impacted by or living with HIV, tuberculosis, and other HIV-related conditions.
Interested investigators are invited to submit a proposal for funding of work by 2 October 2023.
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Behavioral and Social Sciences
Greg Davis, HANC Project Manager
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Financial Disclosure Working Group: The Financial Disclosure Working Group is preparing for the upcoming solicitation. The solicitation will occur on September 21, 2023. All investigators that are expected to report should have received an email asking them to create an AAMC account so they can submit their disclosures via Convey.
Behavioral Science Consultative Group: The Behavioral Science Consultative Group is happy to announce that Dr. Michele Andrasik will replace Dr. Jane Simoni to co-chair the group alongside Dr. Ira Wilson.
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Community Partners
Greg Davis, HANC Project Manager
Russell Campbell, HANC Director
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Community Partners is reconvening the Community Partners Executive Committee. The CPEC is currently scheduling their first meeting which should occur in September.
In August, CP hosted a webinar on Cure research with Dr. Marina Caskey, Jan Kosmyna, and Katrina Millard. You can view the webinar here.
HANC has also formed a new working group, the TB vaccine communication strategy work group. The group will begin meeting in September.
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Cross-Network Coordination
Kathleen Pescasio, HANC Cross-Network Project Manager
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The Cross-Network Protocol Deviation Working Group (PDWG) has completed the review and sign-off of the Protocol Deviation Reporting Guide. The group is working on sharing the updated guidelines and determining next steps for the management and processing of protocol deviations.
The Communications Working Group (CWG) met in July to share network engagements at recent conferences, as well as plans for upcoming annual meetings. The CWG is excited to welcome ACTG’s new Communications Manager, Rachel Reiss, to the group.
The Cross-Network Data Management Center Working Group (DMCWG) held a meeting to discuss SCHARP’s implementation of Safety Gateway. The DMCWG also continues to discuss current ongoing efforts to switch to direct data entry.
The Cross-Network Site Coordinators Working Group (SCWG) continues to revise the Onboarding/Training Checklist, which will be used as a resource for new Site Coordinators at DAIDS-sponsored clinical trial sites. The group is also discussing plans for a mentorship program for study coordinators at a cross-network level.
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Laboratory Coordination
Tyler Brown, HANC Laboratory Project Manager
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The Lab Technologists SOP Working Group met in August to revise the Guidelines for Shipping and Receiving Biological Substance, Category B Specimens. The group aims to publish an updated version of this SOP by the end of October.
In August, the Lab Focus Group convened to tackle key issues related to cross-network lab activities, specifically addressing lab supply shortages and upcoming cross-network TB vaccine protocols.
In August, the Bioanalytical Revision Assay Group reconvened to review and publish an updated iteration of the CPQA Bioanalytical Method Validation (BMV) Guidelines. A new version of the CPQA BMV Guidelines is slated for release later this fall.
The CPQA Cross-Network Clinical Pharmacology Forum held a meeting in August to discuss current and upcoming CPQA proficiency testing rounds, future network study compounds, and updates on the CPQA AVR/SOP Review Program.
The CPQA Advisory Board met in August to discuss and seek feedback from group members on current CPQA Program activities.
Reminders:
- Earlier this year, the DAIDS Office for Policy in Clinical Research Operations (OPCRO) published DAIDS GCLP Training Related FAQs (Version 2.0). Find the updated document on the DAIDS Clinical Research Policies webpage: DAIDS Clinical Research Policies.
- In June, the Lab Technologists SOP Working Group released an updated version of the ACTG/IMPAACT Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Dried Blood Spot Card Preparation. You can access this SOP on the ACTG/IMPAACT Laboratory Manual webpage, under Resources.
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HANC Leadership
Russell Campbell, HANC Director
Brian Minalga, HANC Deputy Director
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HANC would like to congratulate Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo on her selection as the new Director of NIAID! Dr. Marrazzo is currently the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Marrazzo is an outstanding physician, researcher, and expert in her field. Dr. Marrazzo was the Protocol Co-Chair for the VOICE Study (MTN-003), a placebo-controlled trial that randomized over 5,000 women in South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe to oral or vaginal tenofovir-based HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis. Dr. Marrazzo is openly gay and is the first woman in this position. We look forward to working with Dr. Marrazzo in her new role.
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The Legacy Project
Brian Minalga, HANC Deputy Director
Pedro Goicochea, HANC Community Engagement Officer
Gabriella Olague, HANC Project Coordinator
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- 9/6: The Legacy Project, Positive Women’s Network, and Whitman-Walker present for the workshop, “Unraveling Molecular HIV Surveillance: Detangling Criminalization from Public Health Activities”
- 9/7: The Latinx Caucus of the Legacy Project conducts the institute, “La Implementación de la Justicia del Lenguaje para el Enrolamiento de Hispanos en la Investigación de VIH/SIDA”
- 9/7-8: The Women’s HIV Research Collaborative presents the poster, “Still We Rise: Forging a Women Centered Research Paradigm”
9/10: Be the Generation quarterly newsletter will be released with updates from HVTN, HPTN and IMPAACT.
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The US Conference on HIV & AIDS (Washington DC, USA)
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Annual HVTN Conference (Seattle, USA)
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Annual IMPAACT Network Meeting (Washington DC, USA)
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HPTN Annual Network Meeting (Washington DC, USA)
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