[From the 10/10/93 Columbia University Record]

MEDICAL CENTER GIVEN $1.8 MILLION TO STUDY AIDS

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $1.8 million to Columbia-
Presbyterian Medical Center to establish a new research unit as part of the
ongoing federal AIDS Clinical Trial Group.  The new unit comprises researchers
at Columbia-Presbyterian and Harlem Hospital Center.

"We plan to initiate studies aimed at the special needs presented by a large
population of medically indigent minority individuals who depend upon the
medical center for health care," says Jay Dobkin, principal investigator and
associate professor of clinical medicine at Columbia's College of Physicians
and surgeons.  Both C-PMC and Harlem Hospital serve predominantly African-
american and Latino AIDS populations.

The center provides an opportunity to treat a minority population with the
backing of the best tertiary care and advanced technologies available, says
Dobkin.  Keen interest in the basic sciences and important contributions from
P&S bring the medical center's resources to bear in trying to improve the care
received in these high risk populations whose needs differ from the treatment
directed at middle-income gay men.

"The goal is to provide coordinated and comprehensive social, psychological
and medical services while conducting ground-breaking research," says Dobkin.
The community will gain access to advanced AIDS treatments without having to
make a choice between health care and basic necessities, such as housing, food
and child care.

There is continued urgency to investigate potential new agents and better use
of existing drugs that can prolong life or slow the progression of disease.
The C-PMC AIDS Clinical Trial Group plans to evaluate drug treatment options
by focusing on areas of concern in disadvantaged populations, such as
tuberculosis, neurological impairment, gastrointestinal complications, AIDS-
related cancers, and antiretroviral treatment in very advanced disease.

TUBERCULOSIS: "Drug abuse, HIV infection, and homelessness represent a common
combination that is fueling an explosive rate of active tuberculosis cases in
upper Manhattan," Dobkin says.  As many as 80 percent of TB cases involve HIV
infection.

NEUROLOGICAL IMPAIRMENT: AIDS-related dementia is associated frequently with
advanced stages of the disease.  The C-PMC program will look into new
treatment options for this disabling complication.  Of particular interest is
the relationship between AIDS-dementia is the relationship between AIDS-
dementia and other mitigating problems, such as depression and anorexia.

GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS: One of the most debilitating and to date
uncontrollable late stage complications is cryptosporidia, an infection that
produces chronic diarrhea.

CYTOMEGALOVIRUS (CMV) represents another infection that is difficult to treat
and is even more challenging to manage once a patient is stabilized.  both of
these disorders emphasize the need for effective treatment, say the
researchers.

OTHER AREAS: Improved drug treatments will be sought for AIDS-related cancers
and advanced stages of the disease.

The principal investigators in the C-PMC AIDS Clinical Trial Group are Dobkin
and Harold Neu, professor of medicine and of pharmacology.