The HIV ELITE CONTROLLER STUDY is a collaborative effort between academia and the community to study on an unprecedented scale, HIV infected people who have been able to maintain viral loads at or below the limits of detection. This collaboration, which brings the power of the Human Genome Project to the study of HIV, will address the key viral, host genetic and immunologic contributions to this extraordinary outcome of infection.

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Participants in the study are:

• HIV positive adults between the ages of 18-75
• Maintaining viral loads below 2,000 copies/ml
• Not taking medications for HIV
• Willing to have a routine blood draw for scientific research
  
  

If you think that you or someone you know might be eligible for the study, please contact our study staff by email at elitecontrollerstudy@partners.org or call us at (617) 726-5536. Information provided in emails and calls will be kept confidential

The study involves a one-time blood draw that can be performed at your local provider's office. Once we have confirmed your eligibility, we will go over the informed consent with you on the phone and answer any questions you might have. We will then get in touch with your local healthcare provider and ship him/her a blood draw kit, which includes all necessary materials and instructions. You and your doctor or nurse can then set up a time for the blood draw. Once the blood draw has been done, the provider sends the blood back to Partners AIDS Research Center using the prepaid packaging we provide.

Participation also involves documentation of current and past viral load and CD4 counts, patient demographics and HIV history.

Participants in the Boston area can enroll through one of our research centers at Massachusetts General Hospital or Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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Please contact us if you have any questions.

Research Coordinators:
Emily Stone Cutrell and Priscilla Padilla
Partners AIDS Research Center
Email: elitecontrollerstudy@partners.org
Tel: (617) 726-5536
Fax: (617) 643-2215

Study Co-Investigator:
Dr. Florencia Pereyra
Partners AIDS Research Center
Email: fpereyra@partners.org

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Other collaborating organizations:

AIDS Action Committee, Boston
AIDSmeds.com
AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC)
TheBody.com
Center for AIDS Information and Advocacy, Houston
Gay Men's Health Crisis, New York
International AIDS Society - USA
International AIDS Vaccine Inititative
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Physicians' Research Network (PRN), New York
POZ magazine
Test Positive Aware Network, Chicago
Treatment Action Group, New York

We also collaborate wtih more than 150 healthcare providers in the US, Canada, Argentina, England, Germany, France, Australia, Brazil and other countries.

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We enroll patients who:

-Are HIV seropositive adults between the ages of 18-75
-Maintain viral loads mostly below 2,000 copies/ml
-Are not currently on antiretroviral therapy (history of ART is acceptable as 
 long as patient has been off treatment for at least one year)

We collaborate with healthcare providers and researchers from around the world, and we are always happy to establish new collaborations.

There are two main routes of collaboration:

1) Provider Collaborators

Most of our collaborators do not have their own protocols and consent forms. Instead, they refer patients to us (with the patients' permission) and we obtain informed consent from the patient over the phone. The patient then signs our Mass General IRB-approved consent form. The blood draw is done locally by the provider with materials that we provide, and the sample is shipped to us at our cost. We are able to provide $100 per sample to the providers and list them as members of the HIV Controller Consortium.

If you are interested in becoming a Provider Collaborator, please contact us at elitecontrollerstudy@partners.org or (617) 726-5536

2) Research Collaborators

Some collaborators do a full IRB submission so that they have their own protocol and can consent patients at their site. For researchers who are interested in submitting, we have templates of the consent form and protocol available for use. We are able to provide $100 per sample that we receive to the researchers and list them as members of the HIV Controllers Consortium.

If you are interested in becoming a Research Collaborator, please call 617-726-5536.

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CONTACT INFORMATION

For research related questions

Bruce D. Walker, MD
Florencia Pereyra, MD - fpereyra@partners.org

For general enrollment procedure questions

Send Samples to:

Alicja Piechocka-Trocha
Laboratory Manager
Partners AIDS Research Center
Massachusetts General Hospital
149 13th Street, Room 5224
Charlestown, MA  02129
(617) 724-5051
atrocha@partners.org


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