Clinical Centers

The Consortium was originally created in 1998 by the National Institutes of Health and is composed of four clinical sites from around the United States: University of Texas – Galveston, University of California – San Diego, University of California – Los Angeles, Mount Sinai Medical Center – New York. While all four contribute to the banking and collection of clinical data for external research use, each site uniquely performs their own scientific research on the available resources. The sites regularly publish abstracts and manuscripts with cutting edge research techniques and data analyses approaches. Each site was charged with recruiting HIV positive individuals who are good candidates to contribute their bodies to the tissue bank with minimal follow-up before death. While the basic recruitment criteria are the same across the Consortium, the underlying population of eligible participants varies widely across the four geographically distinct regions and has thus lead to a unique cohort with different demographics , comorbidities, and other factors by site. To ensure uniform characterization of recruited cases, common protocols have been developed for the evaluation of extensive clinical assessments, and for the collection and analysis of laboratory specimens and postmortem pathology. As ARV therapy has improved over time and access to good health care has expanded, however, patients with HIV and other conditions are living longer and thus length of participation in the study has increased dramatically. Sites are now involved in following a cohort longitudinally in addition to the standard brain banking activities that occur at death. This shift in the cohort has resulted in an expansion of the clinical database as well as extended the types of questions that can be explored. Below are details on each of the four clinical sites, the PIs, and their subsites that are involved with data collection and post-mortem activities of the study:

Clinical Sites
Texas NeuroAIDS Research Center (TNRC)
University of Texas Medical Branch
118A Keiller Building Galveston, TX
77555-0609
Director: Dr. Benjamin Gelman
California NeuroAIDS Tissue Network (CNTN)
University of California, San Diego
220 Dickinson St. Suite B
San Diego, CA 92103
Co-Directors:
Dr. David Moore and Dr. Cris Achim
National Neurological AIDS Bank (NNAB)
Reed Neurological Research Center
710 Westwood Plaza Room #1169
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Director: Dr. Elyse Singer
Manhattan HIV Brain Bank (MHBB)
Mount Sinai Medical Center
Annenberg Room 15-76
Box 1134
1 Gustave L. Levy Place
New York, NY 10029
Director: Dr. Susan Morgello