265898 Cohort Profile: The International Collaboration of Incident HIV and Hepatitis C in Injecting Cohorts (InC3)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Meghan Morris, PhD, MPH , Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Jason Grebley, PhD , The Kirby Institute for infection and immunity in society, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Thomas M. Rice, MPH, PhD , Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Kimberly Page, PhD, MPH , Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
. On behalf of the InC3 cohort , Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are serious and common blood borne viral infections among injection drug users (IDU), for which there are no current vaccines and limited prevention modalities. The International Collaboration for Incident HIV and Hepatitis C in Injecting Cohorts (InC3), established in 2010, is a international multi-cohort project of pooled biological and behavioral data from nine prospective cohorts of IDU. InC3 brings together researchers from Australia, Canada, United States, and the Netherlands with expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical and behavioral sciences, virology, and immunology to efficiently investigate a range of research questions relevant to global HIV and HCV outcomes. Pooled data permit analyses with greater statistical power than previously possible within individual studies. Currently this collaboration provides data on 4,091 IDU who have been followed for a collective of 9,016 person-years of observation, 859 incident HCV infections with longitudinal follow up, and 575 HIV infections. Data are merged annually. The 1st merge produced 2 Manuscripts. Several manuscripts are underway using data from the 2nd merge in the following areas: (1) temporal trends in HIV and HCV incidence, (2) HCV infection, clearance, pathogenesis, and sequelae, (3) protective immunity, (4) social and behavioral studies, and (5) treatment and clinical studies. Additionally, InC3 aims to develop new methods to conduct cross-study and longitudinal analyses, and to support /develop junior scientists to establish a long-term research platform. Scientific results from InC3 will be rapid and cost-effective and will inform prevention, treatment, and policy relevant to HIV and HCV infections globally.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Define the International Collaboration of Incident HIV and Hepatitis C in Injecting Cohorts (InC3). 2. Describe the objectives that guide our collaborative activities (e.g., developing new analytic methods, composing manuscripts, establishing new collaborations, and training young investigators). 3. Provide preliminary findings from analyses of pooled data from our first and second merge. 4. Identify lessons learned.

Keywords: Injecting Drug Use, Hepatitis C

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a current postdoctoral fellow and co-investigator of a federally funded grant on the epidemiology of incident HIV and HCV in injection drug users across 9 cohort studies. My scientific interest include substance abuse epidemiology, HIV prevention, and HCV pathogenesis.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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