Tashima recognized for HIV work

Dr. Karen Tashima, director of HIV clinical studies at The Miriam Hospital, served as the lead investigator in a clinical study to evaluate the recently FDA-approved drug Prezcobix. The drug reduces the number of pills that HIV patients must take each day. Tashima is also a professor of medicine at Brown University and an infectious-disease physician at Family Healthcare Center at SSTAR. In 2005, she was recognized as one of 10 outstanding physicians in the country for HIV care by www.thebody.com. She holds a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.D. from Columbia University.

You were involved in another successful clinical trial in the mid-1990s, could you tell me more about that?

In the mid-1990s we tested efavirenz (Sustiva) in combination with other medications available at the time. Adding efavirenz created a much more effective HIV therapy, and patients’ health improved tremendously. In Rhode Island, as well as around the country, we saw a huge drop in the number of AIDS-related hospitalizations and death due to HIV/AIDS.

Why is it important that HIV research continues to receive attention?

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We still have many new infections occurring in the U.S., about 50,000 per year – and that number really hasn’t budged in recent years. Until we find an effective vaccine, HIV research is necessary to help people avoid HIV infection. … For individuals who are HIV-infected, we need to find better ways to help them to live long and healthy lives, so improving medications to avoid long-term side effects is important. The average age of our patients at The Immunology Center is about 45 years, therefore we need to understand how the aging process will interact with chronic HIV infection.

Could you speak more about the center?

We follow about 1,600 HIV-positive persons at The Immunology Center at The Miriam Hospital. We provide primary care or HIV specialty care, counseling and case-management services. We also provide free and anonymous STD/HIV testing. n

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