NHLBI HIV/AIDS Program

Huge progress in the treatment of HIV has led to higher survival rates and a dramatic evolution in understanding the disease. Trends over the past decades reveal that, overall, people are living longer with HIV. As a result, the challenges have now shifted from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS — the most advanced stage of the HIV infection — to other long-term diseases, such as coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and chronic anemia. Many studies have shown that people with HIV have a much higher risk of developing heart, lung, and blood conditions and that these conditions may develop earlier in people with HIV compared to the general population.

The NHLBI HIV/AIDS Program has funded a wide range of HIV-related heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders research, including the following: 

• Centers for AIDS Research to provide expertise and resources for high-quality, multidisciplinary AIDS research
• Genetic Engineering Technologies for HIV Cure Research to develop cell and gene therapies, including hematopoietic stem cell transplants, as well as nontraditional antiviral strategies to cure HIV-1, the most widespread type of HIV
• Heart, Lung, and Blood Co-morbiditieS Implementation Models in People Living with HIV (HLB-SIMPLe) to best deliver proven-effective prevention and treatment interventions for heart, lung, blood, and sleep diseases and disorders in people with HIV in World Bank designated low- and middle-income countries and Small Island Developing States.
• Implementation Research to Develop Interventions for People Living with HIV (PRECluDE) to support implementation research on proven-effective interventions for heart, lung, blood, and sleep diseases and conditions among people with HIV. These discoveries will fully implement guideline-based practices, late-stage T4 translation research, and implementation science strategies that address barriers to guideline-based interventions in community and clinical settings.
• Investigating HIV-Associated Lung Disease (INHALD) network to better understand the cellular and molecular events underlying HIV-associated lung diseases. While the study itself has ended, data and specimens can be requested for research purposes here.
• Lung HIV Microbiome Project (LHMP) to test the lung microbiome in people who have and do not have HIV. People with HIV are at high risk for developing pneumonia and have less lung function after pneumonia — an aftereffect not seen in people who do not have HIV. Data and specimens for this study can be requested through BioLINCC.
• Martin Delaney Collaboratories for HIV Cure Research to foster multidisciplinary collaborations between basic, applied, and clinical researchers studying HIV that stays in the body’s cells despite treatment (HIV persistence) and developing potential cures
• Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS)/Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS) to advance HIV science and lower the impact of long-term health conditions that affect people with HIV
• Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) to understand the safety of HIV treatment in children 
• Randomized Trial to Prevent Vascular Events in HIV (REPRIEVE) to inform clinical approaches to prevent cardiovascular disease in people with HIV

View funding information for the NHLBI HIV/AIDS Program. 

The NHLBI encourages researchers to use existing NIH clinical/observational cohorts, biological specimens, databases (such as dbGaP), or imaging banks whenever possible for HIV-related heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorder research. Investigators interested in using data and stored samples from NHLBI studies can submit a request through the NHLBI Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC). In addition, the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study Data Analysis and Coordinating Center handles requests for data and biospecimens related to the study.

The following are HIV/AIDS research resources that the NIH Office of AIDS Research provides. 

• Strategic Plan for Trans-NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research 
• NIH HIV/AIDS Early Career Investigator Resources
• NIH HIV/AIDS Online Resources 
• NIH HIV/AIDS Research Priorities and Guidelines for Determining HIV/AIDS Funding

This cross-NHLBI program funds innovative research that responds to the evolving challenges of HIV. The NHLBI HIV/AIDS Team coordinates all HIV-related research in heart, lung, blood, and sleep, including translation research and implementation science. The NHLBI began holding working group meetings to identify research priorities in 2012. The Institute has since developed various initiatives to support research targeting HIV-related priorities. 

Contact information for NHLBI HIV/AIDS Program team members is available in the areas of heart, lung, blood, and sleep research; biostatistics; clinical research; translation research; implementation science; and grant management.