Grant gives Midwest’s only adult STD center $4.5 million for research

By Mary Hardin

The four-year renewal will bring $4.5 million in research funds to the center, which is the only STD research consortium in the Midwest funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). IU has two federally funded STD centers: one that focuses on adult p opulations and one that researches sexual behavior in adolescents.

The primary objective of the Midwest center is to focus the efforts of physicians and researchers with different scientific backgrounds and interests on STDs; the ultimate goal is to develop new prevention approaches.

Center researchers include individuals with expertise in the basic biomedical sciences, patient-related research, and behavioral and epidemiological studies.

Projects funded by the NIH grant include:

• Evaluation of the mechanisms used by the herpes simplex virus to enter the genital tract. The research also will evaluate how the virus spreads to the nervous system.

• The body’s responses to genital ulcers (chancroid) and how the ulcers facilitate HIV transmission.

• The social demographics of STD transmission within couples.

• Acceptance issues for parents concerned about their children being vaccinated for STD prevention.