Philadelphia International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is one of several clinical research sites in Philadelphia for the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network. IMPAACT is a global collaboration of investigators, institutions, community representatives, and other partners organized for the purpose of significantly decreasing incident HIV and HIV-associated infections and decreasing mortality and morbidity due to HIV and HIV-associated infections and co-morbidities among infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant/postpartum women.

The Douglas laboratory at CHOP is the central immunology laboratory for the IMPAACT Network, and a specialty immunology laboratory.

Research Project Highlights:

• Molecular and cellular immunologic studies of substance P in monocyte-macrophages
• Discovery of the truncated form of NK1-R and demonstrated that SP antagonists block HIV through CCR5 and applied as novel HIV therapy
• Research in cellular immunology and its relationship to the immunopathogenesis of HIV
• Cellular and humoral immunologic studies, including studies of AIDS infection and of primary immunodeficiencies
• Psychosocial and psychiatric interactions with the immune and nervous systems studies
• Ongoing studies have demonstrated associations between substance P, impaired natural killer cell activity, and depression in HIV-infected individuals.