Pilot Award

CFAR offered a general Pilot Award program from 1994 to 2017 and funded 82 early stage investigators.

In 2022, CFAR initiated a new program: Pilot Award for Investigators New to HIV.

82 Awards

Award Recipient Award date Award Type
Estimating the Effect of Indoor Residual Spraying on Maternal Mortality, Low-Birthweight and Perinatal Mortality Among HIV-Infected Pregnant Women Living in the HAART Era Hugh Sturrock , PhD Spring Pilot Award
Procyanadin Reactivates Latent HIV Daniele Cary, PhD Fall Pilot Award
Addressing Sexual Dysfunction in Anal Cancer Survivorship for HIV-Infected Men Who Have Sex With Men Chia-Ching Wang, MD Spring Pilot Award
Designing and pilot testing a cohort study of people who inject drugs to assess the effect of opiate agonist therapies on HIV and HCV incidence, Kerman, Iran. Ali Mirzazadeh, MD, PhD Fall Pilot Award
Impact of V1/V2 Length and Cysteine Composition on Env Function and Neutralization Marielle Cavrois, PhD Fall Pilot Award
Immunologic and virologic response to a single dose of Kansui herbal supplement in SIV infected macaques maintaining antiretroviral therapy (ART) mediated viral suppression Sulggi Lee, MD, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Reactivation of Latent HIV Using Recombinant Galectin-9 Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Proof of concept of a self-administered digital health screener (SASH) to increase reporting of unhealthy alcohol use by persons with HIV in care in Uganda Judy Hahn, PhD, MA Spring Pilot Award
Evaluating the effect of Metformin on immune recovery in HIV patients with diabetes Michael Reid, MD Spring Pilot Award
Methamphetamine, Heavy Alcohol Use, and Immune Activation in HIV Adam Carrico, PhD Fall Pilot Award
Pathogenesis of HIV-associated chronic lung disease among vertically-infected children and adolescents John Metcalfe, MD, MPH Fall Pilot Award
Using proteomics to unravel tissue tropism for human chlamydia species Cherilyn Elwell, PhD Fall Pilot Award
Qualitative evaluation of a large "test and treat" trial: Characterizing baseline community contexts and implementation processes in SEARCH Elvin Geng, MD, MPH Fall Pilot Award
HIV, HCV, and Fatty liver Disease: Host, Virus or Genes Jennifer Price, MD Fall Pilot Award
Aging, Cognitive Impairment and Ability to Engage in Healthcare Following Incarceration Mi-Suk Kang-Dufour, MPH, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Strategies to Obtain Systematic Samples and Measure HIV Prevalence in Migrant Women in Western Kenya Carol Camlin, PhD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
In Vivo Assessment of Bone quality in HIV-Infected Patients to Better Predict Fracture Roland Krug, PhD Fall Pilot Award
The REAP Study: Returning Estimates of Ancestry to Participants Janet Shim, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Cellular Determinants of Anti-rebound to Malaria in HIV-Exposed Children Discontinuing Chemoprophylaxis Prasanna Jagannathan, MD, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Immunologic Biomarkers for Ruling-out Active Tuberculosis in HIV/AIDS Adithya Cattamanchi, MD, MAS Spring Pilot Award
Integrated Regulatory Mechanisms Controlling HIV-Associated Immune Activation Jeffrey Milush, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Reaching transgender women with home-based, self-HIV testing in San Francisco: a pilot acceptability and feasibility study Sheri Lippman, PhD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
Solving the Puzzle: HIV-1 Restriction by Innate-associated HLA-Mediated Mechanisms Rui André Raposo, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Effect of the Timing of HIV Infection Treatment on the Reconstitution of the T Cell Receptor Repertoire Paul Baum, MD, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Influence of intestinal microbiota on HIV pathogenesis Richard Dunham, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Household HIV Testing During Tuberculosis Contact Investigation in Tanzania Elizabeth Fair, MD, PhD Fall Pilot Award
Translating Results from an RCT Methods Study to Improve the Accuracy of Evaluations of HIV Interventions Diane Binson, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Retention in HIV Care and Survival: Estimating Association and Causal Effect Katerina Christopoulos, MD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
Novel Computational Biology Methods for the Evaluation of Multi-Level/Combination Community HIV Prevention Interventions Edwin Charlebois, MPH, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Provider Practices with Childhood Non-Malarial Fevers: A Pilot Study in Zanzibar Kimberly Baltzell, PhD Spring Pilot Award
It Takes a Village: Community Engagement in San Francisco and Kisumu to reduce HIV risk in Homeless Youth and Street Children Colette Auerswald, MD, MS Spring Pilot Award
Mobilizing the Humoral Immune Response against Human Endogenous Retroviruses to Control HIV-1 Viral Replication Henri-Alexandre Michaud, PharmD, PhD Fall Pilot Award
Drug and Alcohol Abuses, Risky Sexual Behaviors, and HIV Risk among Sex Workers and Their Clients in Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia: A Pilot Study and Assessment of Prevention Opportunities Marie-Claude Couture, PhD, MSc Fall Pilot Award
The Clinical and Public Health Impact of Automated Nucleic Acid Testing for TB in San Francisco J.Lucian Davis, MD, MAS Fall Pilot Award
Acceptability, Feasibility, and Efficacy of Vaginal Insemination for Conception in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Discordant Couples (Female Positive, Male Negative) Seeking Pregnancy in Kenya Okeoma Mmeje, MD, MPH Fall Pilot Award
Effect of Malaria Chemoprevention on Naturally Acquired T-Cell Mediated Immunity to Malaria Margaret Feeney, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Biomarkers of Atherosclerosis Risk in HIV-1 Infection Elizabeth Sinclair, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Implementing a Sampling-based Approach to Measuring Patient Outcomes Among HIV-infected Patients Lost to Follow-up in East Africa: the I-SAMPOLE Study Elvin Geng, MD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
Property Rights and HIVIAIDS Prevention: Examining the Impact of a Community Land and Property WatchDog Model In Nyanza and Western Provinces, Kenya Shari Dworkin, PhD, MS Spring Pilot Award
Provision of Extended Nevirapine to Breastfeeding Infants to Reduce Postnatal Transmission of HIV in a Resource-limited Setting: Feasibility, Safety and Effectiveness in a Real world Setting Khady Diouf, MD Spring Pilot Award
HERV-specific CD4+ T Cell Responses in HIV-1 Infected Individuals Devi SenGupta, MD Fall Pilot Award
Prevention of TB in HIV-infected Children in Kenya: An Evaluation of Isoniazid Preventive Therapy Lisa Dillabaugh, MD Fall Pilot Award
Functional Characterization of a Novel Counteregulator CD4 T cell in Primary HIV-1 Infection Lishomwa Ndhlovu, MD, PhD Fall Pilot Award
HIV-1 Genital Shedding in Women Before and After Treatment for Cervical Dysplasia Megan Huchko, MD, MPH Fall Pilot Award
Non-Commercial Culture Methods for Rapid Screening of Patients at Risk of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Zimbabwe John Metcalfe, MD, MPH Fall Pilot Award
Investigation of HIV Levels, Latent Reservoirs, and Mechanisms of Latency in the Gut Steven Yukl, MD Fall Pilot Award
Laying the Groundwork to Test a Science-Based Gender Transformative HIV prevention Intervention with Heterosexually Active Men in South Africa Shari Dworkin, PhD, MS Spring Pilot Award
Sex Differences in Patterns of Migration and HIV Risk in Western Kenya Carol Camlin, PhD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
Formative Research for the Adaptation of an Intervention of HIVAIDS Service Providers on Gender-Based Violence in Rural Western Kenya Janet Turan, PhD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
The Effect of CD4+ Count on Cardiovascular Risk in Treated HIV Disease Priscilla Hsue, MD Fall Pilot Award
Decreasing Unintended Pregnancy and Vertical Transmission of HIV Through Family Planning: Where Do Men Fit In? Sara Newmann, MD, MPH Fall Pilot Award
Kisumu Street Children: A Pilot Study of STIs and HIV in Social Context Colette Auerswald, MD, MS Fall Pilot Award
Alcohol Use and HIV Treatment Failure in Mbarara, Uganda Judy Hahn, PhD, MA Spring Pilot Award
Dynamics of T Cell Dysfunction in Primary HIV-1 Infection Lishomwa Ndhlovu, MD, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Raltegravir Transplant Immunosuppressant Interactions: Predicting the Unexpected Lynda Frassetto, MD Spring Pilot Award
Immunodiagnosis of Active Tuberculosis in HIV Co-infected Patients: Local versus Peripheral T-cell Interferon Gamma Responses Adithya Cattamanchi, MD, MAS Spring Pilot Award
Novel Lipopeptide Epitopes to the MPR Region of GP41: Characterization of Antibody Titer, Lipid Cross-Reactivity and HIV Neutralization Francis Szoka, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Telemedicine Screening for Cytomegalovirus Retinitis Among HIV Patients in Developing Countries: A Pilot Study Todd Margolis, MD, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Identifying Novel Allosteric Inhibitors of Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus Protease Gregory Lee, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Body Fat Changes in HIV-infected Individuals after initiating ART in Southwestern Uganda Phyllis Tien, MD Spring Pilot Award
Defining Immune Correlates of Protection: HIV-specific CD4 Rachel Owen, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Inhibitors of APOBEC3C and HIV Mutation Khaoula Bourara, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Intra-familial Transmission of Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus in Sub-Saharan Africa Lisa Butler, MPH, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Novel approaches to preventing HIV acquisition and transmission in high-risk sex workers in Cambodia Spring Pilot Award
Valganciclovir to Reduce T Cell Activation in HIV Infection Peter Hunt, MD Spring Pilot Award
REACH Cohort Adherence-Pharmacokinetics Substudy (continuation from 2000) David Bangsberg, MD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Routinely Offering HIV and Hepatitis C Testing to Hospitalized Patients David Bangsberg, MD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
HIV-1 Specific CTL in Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT) Barbara Shacklett, PhD Spring Pilot Award
Sexual Transmission of Drug Resistant Virus among HIV-Positive Men and Women Gregory Greenwood, PhD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
REACH Cohort Adherence-Pharmacokinetic Substudy David Bangsberg, MD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
Cohort Study: Study on the Consequences of the Protease-Inhibitor Era (SCOPE) Steven Deeks, MD Fall Pilot Award
Long-Term Evaluation of Patients Experiencing Virologic Failure of a Protease Inhibitor Containing Regimen Who Choose to Temporarily Discontinue Therapy Steven Deeks, MD Fall Pilot Award
Discontinuation of Antifungal Therapy for Cryptococcal Meningitis Following Immunologic Response to Antiretroviral Therapy Judith Aberg, MD Spring Pilot Award
Seroepidemiology of Human Herpesvirus 8 in a Diverse Profile of Persons at High Risk for HIV Infection Jeffrey Martin, MD, MPH Spring Pilot Award
Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy and Lymphoid Irradiation, with Thymic Shielding, in Subjects with HIV Disease Steven Deeks, MD Spring Pilot Award
Barriers to Timely HIV Testing and Treatment Frederick Hecht, MD Spring Pilot Award
The Diagnostic Utility of Bone Marrow Aspirate Cultures Versus Blood Cultures for Detection of Mycobacterium Avium Complex in AIDS Patients Judith Aberg, MD Spring Pilot Award
Prevalence and Predictors of Skin Disease in a Cohort of Women with HIV Paradi Mirmirani, MD Spring Pilot Award
Baboon Human Stem Cell Infusion in a Patient with Advanced HIV disease Steven Deeks, MD Fall Pilot Award
Evaluation of the Metabolic Effects of Thalidomide in Patients with HIV-Associated Weight Loss Kathleen Mulligan, PhD Spring Pilot Award
A Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study of Chinese Herbs in HIV Associated Cryptosporidium-Negative Diarrhea Donald Abrams, MD Spring Pilot Award
Physicians' Attitudes Toward Assisted Suicide in AIDS: a 5-Year Comparison Study Donald Abrams, MD Fall Pilot Award
Contacts
  • Estimating the Effect of Indoor Residual Spraying on Maternal Mortality, Low-Birthweight and Perinatal Mortality Among HIV-Infected Pregnant Women Living in the HAART Era

    Estimating the Effect of Indoor Residual Spraying on Maternal Mortality, Low-Birthweight and Perinatal Mortality Among HIV-Infected Pregnant Women Living in the HAART Era

    Abstract

    It is well known that children born to women co-infected with HIV and malaria are at increased risk of low birthweight and perinatal death. Preliminary work has shown that indoor residual spraying with insecticide, a well-known malaria control strategy, is associated with 50-71% reduction in low birthweight and 61-90% risk reduction in neonatal mortality among both HIV-infected women and HIV-uninfected women. While potentially important findings, the opportunistic before and after study design approach used is open to issues of confounding.

  • Procyanadin Reactivates Latent HIV

    Procyanadin Reactivates Latent HIV

    Headshot of

    Abstract

    While highly active anti-retroviral therapy has greatly improved the lives of HIV infected individuals, current treatments are unable to completely eradicate the virus. A number of latency reversing agents, including HDAC and BET bromodain inhibitors, are unsuccessful when used in resting CD4+T cells which lack sufficient expression of transcriptional activators such as P-TEFb and NF-κB, which are also important regulators of HIV transcription. MAPK and PKC agonists are potent T cell activators, which induce expression of these transcription factors.

  • Addressing Sexual Dysfunction in Anal Cancer Survivorship for HIV-Infected Men Who Have Sex With Men

    Addressing Sexual Dysfunction in Anal Cancer Survivorship for HIV-Infected Men Who Have Sex With Men

    Headshot of

    Abstract

    Incidence of anal cancer is more than eighty times higher in HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) than in the HIV-uninfected population. Because the majority of these patients are diagnosed in the early stages and early anal cancer typically responds well to concurrent chemoradiation, research on long-term survivorship in this population is a growing yet unmet need. Sexual dysfunction is one of the most common and distressing consequences of anal cancer treatment.

  • Designing and pilot testing a cohort study of people who inject drugs to assess the effect of opiate agonist therapies on HIV and HCV incidence, Kerman, Iran.

    Designing and pilot testing a cohort study of people who inject drugs to assess the effect of opiate agonist therapies on HIV and HCV incidence, Kerman, Iran.

    Headshot of

    Abstract

    People who inject drugs (PWID) are the most severely affected population for HIV and HCV in Iran. Moreover, Iran, straddling the world’s major supply route of heroin, has the higher per capita opioid users in the world. Combination prevention approaches a have been implemented, including medically assisted drug treatment (mainly opiate agonist therapies [OAT] including clonidine detoxification with or without methadone or buprenorphine maintenance therapy [MMT, BMT, respectively]),needle and syringe exchange, and condom distribution programs. All are provided free of charge.

  • Impact of V1/V2 Length and Cysteine Composition on Env Function and Neutralization

    Impact of V1/V2 Length and Cysteine Composition on Env Function and Neutralization

    Abstract

    HIV-1 evolved to encode an envelope protein (Env) that triggers fusion of viral and cellular membranes while minimizing the exposure of its key domains to the host immune response. Long variable domains protect HIV-1 Env from the host humoral response; however, they seem detrimental for the transmission or early expansion of HIV-1. In the scheme of opposite selective pressures exerted by the immune response and the bottleneck of transmission, V1/V2 domain of Env appears center stage.

  • Proof of concept of a self-administered digital health screener (SASH) to increase reporting of unhealthy alcohol use by persons with HIV in care in Uganda

    Proof of concept of a self-administered digital health screener (SASH) to increase reporting of unhealthy alcohol use by persons with HIV in care in Uganda

    Headshot of

    Abstract

    Abstract Alcohol consumption is a critical driver of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Among those with HIV, alcohol consumption has consistently been associated with reduced antiretroviral adherence crucial for treatment as prevention. Thus, reducing alcohol use among those with HIV is a high priority. Brief interventions to reduce alcohol use (ABI) have been efficacious in primary care in developed countries. However, the usefulness of ABIs depends on effective screening for unhealthy alcohol use.

  • Immunologic and virologic response to a single dose of Kansui herbal supplement in SIV infected macaques maintaining antiretroviral therapy (ART) mediated viral suppression

    Immunologic and virologic response to a single dose of Kansui herbal supplement in SIV infected macaques maintaining antiretroviral therapy (ART) mediated viral suppression

    Headshot of

    Abstract

    Millions of HIV-infected individuals are now receiving life-saving ART, but with evidence of ongoing immune dysfunction despite treatment and the current absence of an effective cure, HIV cure has emerged as an important research strategy. This pilot non-human primate study will evaluate the tolerability and biologic effect of increasing doses of Euphorbia kansui, an inexpensive, readily available herbal supplement used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) shown to reactivate latent HIV-1 in an in vitro model.

  • Evaluating the effect of Metformin on immune recovery in HIV patients with diabetes

    Evaluating the effect of Metformin on immune recovery in HIV patients with diabetes

    Headshot of

    Abstract

    Despite the success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), many HIV-infected patients never achieve a CD4 recovery greater than 500 cells/mm3 even after many years on treatment. Poor immune reconstitution, despite good virologic control, is associated with low baseline CD4 count, old age, and co-morbid disease. While a number of interventions have been suggested to improve immunologic outcomes for those at risk for incomplete CD4 T cell response, very few have successfully improved outcomes for patients with poor initial immune recovery.

  • Reactivation of Latent HIV Using Recombinant Galectin-9

    Reactivation of Latent HIV Using Recombinant Galectin-9

    Headshot of

    Abstract

    Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has demonstrated efficacy and durability in suppressing HIV replication in infected individuals. However, ART does not achieve viral eradication due to the persistence of latently infected cells. The eradication of HIV necessitates elimination of this reservoir. Methods to reactivate HIV latently infected cells allowing direct viral cytopathic effects or immune-mediated clearance are being considered as cure strategies. However, existing latency-reversing agents exert weak effects on HIV reactivation.

  • Methamphetamine, Heavy Alcohol Use, and Immune Activation in HIV

    Methamphetamine, Heavy Alcohol Use, and Immune Activation in HIV

    Headshot of

    Abstract

    The overarching goal of this cross-sectional study is to examine if co-morbid heavy alcohol use is associated with innate immune activation and expression of inflammatory genes in HIV-positive, methamphetamine-using men who have sex with men (MSM) treated with anti-retroviral therapy (ART). Chronic activation of the innate immune system and inflammation are independently linked to an excess risk of age-related morbidity and mortality in HIV.