How blood vessel injury and immune activation affect thinking in women and men with HIV
Sex differences in the contribution of cerebrovascular injury and immune activation to neurocognitive impairment in HIV infection
This project looks at whether damage to brain blood vessels and immune system activation help explain why people—especially women—living with HIV have memory and thinking problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11323489 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will give memory and thinking tests, draw blood to measure inflammation and immune activation, and perform brain imaging to look for blood vessel injury. They will compare women and men living with HIV and follow participants over time to track changes in cognition and vascular findings. The team will also review cardiovascular risk factors like blood pressure and cholesterol to see how these interact with immune markers and imaging results. Findings aim to clarify whether women have greater burden or faster progression of cerebrovascular injury linked to cognitive decline.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults living with HIV (both women and men) who can attend clinic visits, have blood drawn, complete cognitive tests, and undergo brain imaging are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People without HIV, those whose cognitive problems are clearly due to unrelated conditions, or individuals unable to have MRI scans or blood draws are unlikely to qualify or directly benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to ways to prevent or treat thinking and memory problems in people with HIV that are tailored by sex.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have shown that women with HIV often have worse cognitive performance than men, but combining immune markers, cardiovascular risk, and vascular brain imaging to explain these sex differences is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
San Francisco, United States
- University of California, San Francisco — San Francisco, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chow, Felicia C. — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Chow, Felicia C.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.