WASHINGTON — In its continuing efforts to provide care to more than 20,000 veterans infected with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced the creation of the Center of HIV Research Resources located at the Palo Alto Health Care System in California.
“In treatment of HIV, research drives care,” said Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of the Public Health Strategic Health Care Group, which oversees the HIV program. “The goal of the new center is to improve health care for veterans by assessing research and clinical trials throughout VA and other agencies and by determining the potential for further research and application in the clinical setting.”
Information concerning research will be collected and disseminated to scientists and patients through Web sites, print and other methods designed for these audiences. Information on current or planned HIV research also will be publicized.
Dr. Mark Holodniy, who works at the Center for Quality Management in HIV Care and is the director of the AIDS Research Center and co-director of the molecular pathology laboratory at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, will run the new center. Holodniy is actively involved in HIV clinical trials and the pre-clinical development of new antiviral compounds. Additionally, he has worked in the development and evaluation of molecular techniques to detect and quantify antiretroviral drug resistance.
“I see the center as an exciting addition to VA’s AIDS service,” said Holodniy. “Although HIV-infected veterans receive quality care within VA, the creation of this center will expedite access to cutting edge HIV treatments, therapies and strategies.”
Additionally, the new center will promote collaborations between VA doctors and researchers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies. Having one source of information for all research studies will expedite information being used in the doctor’s office.
VA is the nation’s largest, single provider of health care to those infected with HIV. Nearly, 50,000 people with HIV infection and AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) have been treated in VA since the disease was first recognized in the United States in 1981. VA physicians were among the first to report the syndrome in 1983. Today, more than 20,000 patients with HIV infection are treated at VA facilities across the nation.
For more information about VA’s HIV program visit the following Internet Web site: http://vhaaidsinfo.cio.med.va.gov/aidsservice.
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