The AVANҪO Research Consortium: A Mozambique/Brazil/Texas Alliance to advance novel and affordable technologies for the prevention and diagnosis of cervical cancer of women living with HIV

Funding Agency:

NIH / National Cancer Institute

Collaborators:

Kathleen Schmeler (UT MD Anderson Cancer Center), Rebecca Richards-Kortum (Rice), Elizabeth Chiao (UT MD Anderson Cancer Center), Cesaltina Ferreira Lorenzoni (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique), Vanderlei Bagnato (University of SaoPaulo, Brazil &Texas A&M), Regis Kreitchmann (Santa Casa Hospital Porto Alegre, Brazil)

Overview:

This consortium will be a collaboration between six institutions in three countries: 1) the US: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson), Rice University, and Baylor College of Medicine; 2) Mozambique: Universidade Eduardo Mondlande (UEM) with the support of the Ministry of Health (MoH); and 3) Brazil: Federal University of Health Sciences Porto Alegre/Hospital Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA/Santa Casa) and the University of São Paulo (USP). The consortium will bring together a strong team of internationally known and respected scientists and physicians to test novel, low-cost and technologically feasible approaches to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer among WLWH in LMICs. The investigators have a history of prior scientific and clinical collaborations, serving as co-investigators on several ongoing and completed extramurally-funded research projects in Texas, Brazil and Mozambique, and are co-authors on multiple joint publications. Portuguese is the primary language spoken in both Brazil and Mozambique, and several MD Anderson team members are fluent in Portuguese, facilitating communication and collaboration among this group of investigators and fostering North-South and South-South collaborations. The Specific Aims of the AVANÇO Research Consortium include: Aim 1. Establish sustainable research infrastructure to perform multi-institutional, international research studies related to HIV-associated malignancies across institutions in the US, Brazil and Mozambique. We will build a comprehensive research program focused on identifying novel, low-cost and technologically feasible approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cervical cancer in WLWH in LMICs. Aim 2. Conduct two Research Projects that advance the development of promising low-cost technologies focused on the diagnosis of high-grade cervical dysplasia and invasive cervical cancer among WLWH. Project1 will optimize and evaluate the Multimodal Mobile Colposcope (MMC) as a point-of-care triage test for screen positive WLWH to avoid overtreatment. Project 2 will evaluate a novel optical microscope with a deep depth of field (DEEP-DOF) image platform which can quickly provide histologic-quality images at the point-of-care and prevent delays in diagnosis and initiation of treatment. Aim 3. Facilitate and enhance the professional development of junior investigators to conduct HIV-associated malignancy research in Mozambique and Brazil. Through our Developmental Core, we will build research capacity and collaboration through formal research training courses, pilot project funding, and implementation of a Project ECHO program for research capacity building focused on mentoring and supporting early-career investigators.