In pursuit of our mission, the Center conducts research on medical, behavioral, and combination approaches to the prevention and treatment of chronic illnesses, with a particular focus on addiction and HIV. We also host a data safety and monitoring board that provides support and oversight to dozens of researchers. We stress the values of integrity and scientific rigor in the conduct of our research and work closely with the communities we serve to ensure that the best of care is given.
ACTTION Phenotyping Substance Use Disorder
RELEVANCE: Phenotyping is a tool that has been recently introduced in the study of addiction and can be used to improve diagnosis and overall treatment outcomes. It aids in the identification of biological and behavioral markers of severity that can be useful in determining response to treatment. A recent study examined the feasibility and administration of the NIDA Phenotyping Assessment Battery (PhAB), a modular package of assessments and neurocognitive tasks, but the need for a…
CA Bridge Patient Outcomes Research Evaluation Study
RELEVANCE: Medication assisted treatment (MAT) is an essential part of evidence-based rapid response treatment and is highly effective in acute care settings. The California Bridge Program develops hospitals and emergency rooms as primary access points for addiction treatment. This intensive program provides training and technical assistance to acute care providers to encourage patients to enter and remain in treatment. DESCRIPTION: UCLA CBAM is working in collaboration Public Health International (PHI) on a research study related…
Expression of stress markers in MSM living with HIV receiving contingency management for methamphetamine use disorder (a.k.a. “EXPRESS+”)
RELEVANCE: Determining whether a patient is both feeling better and improving physiologically when treating people living with HIV (PLWH) for methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) requires identification of a clinically significant measure separate from abstinence. This study aims to address this challenge by testing a gene expression pattern identified by the field of social genomics, which may provide insight into both psychosocial health and biological processes that impact chronic disease risk in PLWH receiving MUD treatment.…
HPTN 083: A Phase 2b/3 Double Blind Safety and Efficacy Study of Injectable Cabotegravir Compared to Daily Oral Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate/Emtricitabine (TDF/FTC), for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in HIV-Uninfected Cisgender Men and Transgender Women who have Sex with Men
RELEVANCE: PrEP agents are needed that do not depend on daily or near-daily pill-taking. The development of alternative agents for PrEP, and/or more adherence-friendly schedules for currently available agents, could increase prevention choices and increase acceptability. Long-acting injectable agents have the potential to prevent HIV acquisition without relying on adherence to a daily oral regimen. DESCRIPTION: Once randomized to one of two arms, participants will move through the steps below and followed for up to…
HPTN 094: INTEGRA: A Vanguard Study of Health Service Delivery in a Mobile Health Delivery Unit to Link Persons who Inject Drugs to Integrated Care and Prevention for Addiction, HIV, HCV and Primary Care
RELEVANCE: Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States (US), with over 67,000 fatalities in 2018.1 Efforts to address the opioid overdose epidemic are reducing rates of death due to prescription opioids, though the rate of overdose related to fentanyl use continued to rise through 2018.1 The opioid epidemic remains North America’s most widespread behavioral public health problem, with a higher number of deaths due to drug overdose in 2016…
Inflammation in Methamphetamine and STIs (aka IMSTI)
RELEVANCE: Methamphetamine (MA) use is common among MSM and is an important driver of the HIV/STI epidemic. Understanding the biological and behavioral risk factors that drive ongoing HIV/STI transmission among MA-using MSM is critical to designing potent HIV prevention interventions. Prevalence of MA use is substantially higher among MSM (5.9% among HIV-negative MSM and 12.3% among MSM living with HIV) than the general population (0.7%) (2,3), with a 707% increase in MA-related mortality in Los…
MSM and Substances Cohort at UCLA Linking Infections Noting Effects, better known as the M Study
RELEVANCE: Stimulant use, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Los Angeles County (LAC) is common. Stimulant drug use, particularly methamphetamine use, is a significant factor in the progression of HIV and STI among MSM in LAC. Non-white MSM are at greatest risk of HIV infection in the United States. Analyses of drug use are needed among diverse samples of MSM in order to understand the impact of drug use on the…
Phase I Safety-Interaction Study of Mirtazapine for the Treatment of Methamphetamine Use Disorder
RELEVANCE: Methamphetamine (MA) is more prevalent than many other drugs, including opioids, with 37 million users of MA and amphetamine worldwide and 1.4 million past-year users in the U.S. alone in 2016. The number of MA poisoning deaths has steadily risen in recent years, from >3,700 in 2014 to 10,333 in 2017. Importantly, MA has been recognized as contributing substantially to the U.S. opioid crisis, with about half of MA poisoning deaths also caused by…
Purpose 2: A Phase 3, Double-Blind, Multicenter, Randomized Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Subcutaneous Twice Yearly Long-Acting Lenacapavir for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis in Cisgender Men, Transgender Women, Transgender Men, and Gender Non-binary People ≥ 16 Years of Age who Have Sex with Male Partners and are at Risk for HIV Infection
RELEVANCE: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that there were 1.7 million new HIV infections in 2019, despite efforts to improve HIV testing, linkage to treatment, and prevention. Persistent disparities exist in ongoing HIV incidence in Black, Hispanic/LatinX MSM and TGW populations, with the greatest disparities in Black transgender women in the U.S. and with continued low uptake of PrEP in these disproportionately affected populations globally. These barriers clearly highlight the need…
Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Monthly Injectable Buprenorphine for Methamphetamine Use Disorder (MURB)
RELEVANCE: The fourth wave of the opioid crisis involves increasing polydrug stimulant and opiate use. Incidence of overdose deaths due to polysubstance use involving opioids co-occurring with methamphetamine increased from 2017 to 2018 by 14.6%. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2018, an estimated 1,867,000 of persons in US aged 12 years and older, reported methamphetamine use in the past year and 1,051 000 reported substance use disorder in the…
Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Injectable Naltrexone and Monthly Injectable Buprenorphine for Cocaine Use Disorder (CURB-2)
RELEVANCE: Cocaine is one of the most commonly abused stimulants globally, and in the US, there are signs of a resurgence of cocaine use. A variety of pharmacotherapies for cocaine use disorder (CUD) has been explored but so far, no study has findings robust enough to warrant FDA approval. Recent research suggests that a kappa opioid receptor antagonist can curb the negative emotional states associated with stimulant withdrawal that leads to increased craving and drug-seeking behaviors.…
FREE CONDOMS
According to a 1992 study published in the Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, using a condom makes sex 10,000 times safer than not using a condom. The UCLA Vine Street Clinic has partnered with LA County to provide free condoms to the public. For more information, visit http://lacondom.com/find-free-condoms/