HIV Working Group Seminar

Paige Williams
Senior Lecturer on Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics

The Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS)

Abstract: The Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) network conducts multiple longitudinal cohort studies investigating the long-term effects of HIV and antiretroviral (ARV) medications in children and young adults who were born with HIV or born exposed to HIV. The network is funded by a grant from NICHD to the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, and includes 4 support cores based at the Harvard Chan School, including a Scientific Core and an Epidemiological and Statistical Methods Core. One of the studies (SMARTT) investigates the safety of antiretroviral medications used by pregnant women to prevent transmission of HIV in their infants, and has enrolled and followed over 5000 children in the US. Another set of studies (AMP Up Series) has enrolled over 1000 young adults who were born with HIV, and evaluates their physical and mental health as they transition to adult care. In this talk I will summarize the ongoing PHACS research projects, highlight some interesting statistical projects that have been addressed, and describe how students can get involved in applied or methodological work related to this network.