Third Coast Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) leadership is pleased to announce the first cohort of pilot awardees since the center’s 2025 renewal.
The new pilot projects address priority areas in HIV research that will speed advancements in HIV treatment, prevention, and cure, and that will improve the healthspan of persons living with HIV. In addition to pilot funds, awardees will benefit from Third Coast CFAR core services and robust mentorship that will prepare them to successfully compete for independent NIH funding in the next 1-2 years.
Pilot Awardees
Julie Bobitt, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago
Title of Study: Adaptation of an Arthritis Management Program for Older Women with HIV
Mentor: Audrey French, MD
Isabelle Clerc, PhD, Northwestern University
Title of Study: Characterizing the Cellular Sources of Neurosymptomathic HIV-1 CSF Escape During cART to Decipher HIV-1 CNS Reservoir Persistence
Mentor: Ramon Lorenzo-Redondo, PhD
Eleanor Friedman, PhD, University of Chicago
Title of Study: Geriatric Syndrome Screening in Older People Living with HIV
Mentor: Jessica Ridgway, MD
Leila Giron, PhD, Northwestern University
Title of Study: Modulating Glutaminolysis to Reduce HIV Persistence in Vivo
Mentor: Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, PhD
Tabita Kreko-Pierce, PhD, Rush University
Title of Study: Age- and Sex-Specific Mechanisms of HIV-associated Neuronal Dysfunction
Mentor: Xiu-Ti Hu, MD, PhD
Laurenia Mangum, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago
Title of Study: Determinants of Optimal HIV Care and Continuity: Insights from Mothers Living with HIV and Healthcare Providers
Mentor: Sybil Hosek, PhD
Lisa Mash, PhD, Northwestern University
Title of Study: Executive Functioning, Adaptive Skills, and Inflammation in Adults with Perinatally Acquired HIV
Mentor: Sahera Dirajlal-Fargo, DO
Srinivasa Narasipura, PhD, Rush University
Title of Study: Role of Complement System in HIV-mediated Neuroinflammation in the Era of ART
Mentor: Lena Al-Harthi, PhD
Jitsh Pratap, PhD, Rush University
Title of Study: Microtubule Stability and Senescence of Osteoblast Progenitors and Osteocytes in Response to HIV Infection
Mentor: Ryan Ross, PhD
Vipul Shukla, PhD, Northwestern University
Title of Study: Developing a Novel and Highly Modular CAR-T Platform for Targeting HIV-Infected Cells
Mentor: Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, PhD
Randi Singer, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago
Title of Study: A Status-Neutral Community-Driven Implementation Study of an Expanded Group Care Model
Mentor: Sybil Hosek, PhD
Jennillee Wallace, PhD, Rush University
Title of Study: HIV and HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Macrophages
Mentor: Lena Al-Harthi, PhD
This pilot competition was the first since Rush University and the University of Illinois at Chicago joined Northwestern University and the University of Chicago to make the Third Coast CFAR a citywide collaboration. The breadth of awardees’ innovative ideas reflect the distinct strengths each institution brings to the CFAR and confirms the center’s collective capacity to advance multidisciplinary research that will end the HIV epidemic.
The Developmental Core will release a new pilot RFA in spring 2026.