The Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) was established in 1993 as a multi-center, prospective, observational cohort study of women living in the United States. The study was expanded in 2012 to additional locations and by study completion in 2018 had been conducted at clinical research sites in Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL/Jackson, MS; Chapel Hill, NC; Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; New York City, NY; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC. Participants were representative of the population of women living within these geographical regions and either living with HIV or behaviorally vulnerable to HIV at the time of enrollment. Biological and behavioral data were collected every six months; limited autopsy samples and saliva may be available also. The study was merged in 2019 with the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) under a unified study comprising a cohort of men and women, known as the MACS-WIHS Combined Cohort Study (MACS-WIHS CCS).
Main Areas of Focus
- To understand the current epidemiology of HIV infection, disease progression, treatment use and outcomes, and related co-morbidities among HIV-positive individuals in the United States
- To understand the differences in HIV disease and treatment outcomes between women compared to men and in different racial and ethnic groups
- To further understanding on how to achieve optimal therapy effectiveness
- To study the uptake of antiretroviral medications
- To study the predictors of successful and sustained viral suppression
- To conduct research to define the clinical outcomes for women with HIV across their full lifespan
Oversight
The MACS-WIHS CCS Executive Committee (EC) is responsible for managing the specific aims of the WIHS and is composed of the Principal Investigators (PIs) from each awardee institution, a MWCCS National Community Advisory Board (NCAB) member selected by study subjects to represent their interests, and a Project Scientist from each current co-funding NIH Institute.
Read more about this network: Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS)
Locations
- Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine - Bronx, NY
- SUNY Downstate - Brooklyn, NY
- Hektoen Research Center - Chicago, IL
- Georgetown University - Washington, DC
- University of California - San Francisco, CA
- University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC
- Emory University - Atlanta, GA
- University of Miami - Miami, FL
- University of Alabama – Birmingham, AL/University of Mississippi Medical Center - Jackson, MS
- From 1997-2018, the WIHS-specific Data Center was located at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health - Baltimore, MD
Featured Research
A Dossier that contains a list of ongoing and completed core aims and substudies, cohort and retention status, baseline characteristics, mortality rates, and ARV use status has been maintained since the study began. The Dossier also summarizes key study characteristics and scientific contributions from WIHS publications. The Dossier is updated annually and can now be found on the MACS-WIHS CCS website.