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A first look at how HIV-positive, aging adults living in rural South Africa are doing in treatment cascade

A doctor drawing blood from a woman

Aging, HIV-positive adults in South Africa are a growing segment of the population. A study by HAALSI researchers, including project director and lead author, Julia Rohr, PhD, takes a first look at how this understudied population is progressing along the care continuum known as an HIV treatment cascade (a popular, step-by-step model of care that tracks an patient starting with initial diagnosis all the way to the achievement of viral…

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International researchers gather to strategize next steps after collection of 2nd wave of longitudinal data on aging population in South Africa

Group of HAALSI researchers gather in front of HCPDS in Cambridge, MA

The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies in Cambridge, MA hosted an international cadre of researchers affiliated with the NIA-funded research project Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) during the week of June 3-7, 2019. The principal investigators were joined by members of the Harvard-based team, as well as those from the University of Witwatersand in South Africa—including many…

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We’re hiring a Project Director for our NIA-funded flagship study HAALSI

Older woman in South Africa

Are you a research scientist with a PhD in demography, public health, epidemiology, or a related field who is interested in health and aging in a global context? The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, in partnership with the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, was awarded a P01 grant in 2013 from the National Institute on Aging to study the drivers and consequences of HIV and non-communicable diseases…

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HIV treatment programs linked to better cardiometabolic health indicators in South African patients

A doctor drawing blood from a woman

Researchers in the The Health and Aging in Africa: a longitudinal study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) project explored whether those people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) might have better chronic disease (e.g. hypertension, diabetes) control and numbers resulting from the “cascade” of care. The results are published in JIAS.

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New findings on aging in a newer population in South Africa

Older woman in South Africa

Three studies by researchers affiliated with Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) have been published this month shedding light on the status of cognitive function, the level of daily living limitations and unmet care needs, and the impact of multiple illnesses on the likelihood of progressing along the recommended “continuum of care” among those aging in South Africa. Read the abstracts and learn more…

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Harvard Pop Center awarded grant by NIA to further research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias among older adults in rural South Africa

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has awarded the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies (HCPDS) a five-year grant to further its research on a rapidly growing, under-studied, at-risk population—older adults in rural South Africa— by honing in on the social and biological risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). The Cognitive Function, Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders in the HAALSI Cohort study is a collaboration with Witwatersrand…

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A first look at cardiovascular disease among an older (and newer) population

Populations in middle-income countries, in many cases, are aging at a faster rate than high-income countries, and these countries typically lack the resources that help to meet the health challenges that coincide with living longer. A new study by a team of HAALSI researchers, including Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman and faculty member Stephen Tollman, characterizes the CVD profile for older subset of individuals within the aging population, and…

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New HAALSI study findings: Education negates height disparity in cognitive function for older adults living in South Africa

A study published by HAALSI researchers, including recent Harvard Bell Fellow Lindsay Kobayashi, Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, and faculty members S V Subramanian (Subu), Kathleen Kahn, and Stephen Tollman, finds that while short stature may be a risk factor for cognitive function among older adults living in South Africa, education was found to negate the relationship between height disparity and cognitive function.

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Are circumcised men safer sex partners? Findings from the HAALSI cohort in rural South Africa

Not necessarily, finds a study published in PLoS ONE by a team of researchers affiliated with Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI). Older men who were circumcised in a hospital setting (as opposed to initiation-based circumcision) had higher HIV prevalence than uncircumcised men. Former Harvard Bell Fellow and HAALSI researcher Molly Rosenberg explains in this article in the South African publication Business Day that…

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