Project: Cardiometabolic Diseases Risk Evaluation and Reduction in African People Living with HIV Infection

Acronym	CaDERAL (Reference Number: TMA2017GSF-1962)
Duration	01/03/2019 - 29/02/2024
Project Topic	Care of people with HIV across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is provided through dedicated parallel health streams, primarily designed to address HIV and related infectious co-morbidities. Consequently, the opportunity of addressing co-morbid non-communicable disease (NCD) is not fully realized in this population in regular contacts with the health system. Integration of HIV and NCD care has been suggested to improve the co-detection and co-management of co-morbid HIV and NCDs. Key to the success of this integration is a better understanding of the burden and drivers of NCDs in people with HIV, and appropriate strategies for promoting their care without compromising HIV specific care. We will conduct a 5-year program of research and capacity development, in view of establishing a sustainable network to generate the evidence to inform successful integration of HIV and NCD care in SSA. The proposal builds on an existing platform comprising the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC, lead institution), the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) and the Clinical Research, Education and Consultancy Network (CRENC) in Cameroon. Our program of research will be developed around three complementary projects. In Nigeria, using data from the NIMR HIV cohort of nearly 24,000 HIV people on ART with over 15 years of follow-up, we will investigate the incidence, remission and determinants (including HIV predictive characteristics) of dyslipidemia and impaired kidney function. In Cameroon, we will use the country arm of the ongoing International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA), to characterize the baseline distribution and determinants of cardiometabolic risk factors in nearly 20,000 adults in care for HIV infections. Across the two country we will assess and strengthen the scope of data collection for improved research on co-morbid NCDs and HIV. In South Africa, we will execute a clinical trial to determine the effect of mobile phone text messaging support, to improve the uptake and adherence and outcome of hypertension care in patients with comorbid HIV and hypertension. The three projects will support the training of three PhD students (one/per country), mentoring of the NIMR biostatistician in handling longitudinal data and a junior SAMR researcher in coordinating clinical trials; and results in at least 10 peer-reviewed publications and several communications at conferences.
Network	EDCTP2
Call	Senior Fellowships 2017

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	South African Medical Research Council	Coordinator	South Africa