To date over $1.4 million has been raised toward the goal of $5 million for the Elizabeth Taylor Endowment Fund at UCLA. We have left all of the donations in the account (corpus) and have begun acccruing interest to support the program. After an initial donation of $500,000, Elizabeth Taylor HIV/AIDS Foundation (ETHAF) was able to donate an additional $610,000 raised in 2007 and 2008. In the summer of 2008 the Entertainment AIDS Alliance was able to raise $50,000 at its annual Wine and Wisdom gala and the proceeds were donated to the endowment. This is in addition to the foundation’s early support and the generous support of the Annenberg Foundation ($250,000) and numerous other individuals.

Recent Developments at the CARE Center

Several developments over the past year will continue the advances of the UCLA CARE Center in research and clinical care:

• The UCLA CARE Center continues its overall leadership and management of clinical trials in HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles. Our NIH funded Clinical Trials Unit, led by Dr Currier expanded this past year saw  to include Drs Shoptaw and Reback as a local site for the NIH HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN). They are conducting studies of HIV prevention in African-American men who are not currently receiving treatment for HIV. In addition we are likely to add a 4th site to our group later in 2009 for a new HIV vaccine study to be conducted by NIH through the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN).
• Dr Currier received a five year grant from NIH  to study cardiovascular and metabolic  implications of antretroviral therapy for HIV in previously untreated patients.
• Dr Mitsuyasu completed an important first-of-its-kind study of stem cell gene therapy for HIV which will be presented at an international AIDS scientific meeting in February and which will be published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature Medicine, in March.
• New faculty members from several different specialties continue to see and care for HIV patients in the CARE Center’s clinic, making it possible to increase the number of patients with HIV and AIDS treated in our clinic.
• The Microbicide Development Program, led by Dr Peter Anton, has begun seeing subjects at the CARE Center for their studies in topical lubricants that may also prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
• The CARE Center continues to attract important new clinical trials for HIV treatment:

• Bionor Immuno –Dr Mitsuyasu is participating in an  early phase trial of a therapeutic HIV vaccine that potentially may allow people with HIV to receive an injectible HIV treatment every few months rather than having to take daily oral medications.
• Merck – Drs Currier and Lake developed a study to evaluate the effect (or lack of effect) on body shape changes in women who are switched to Raltegravir, a new HIV integrase inhibitor.
• The National Cancer Institute’s AIDS Malignancy Consortium, under the leadership of Dr Mitsuyasu (headquartered at the CARE Center), continues to lead the way in international research on cancers in HIV which are being seen with increasing frequency as HIV pateints live longer. Cancer is now the second leading cause of death in people living with HIV.
• The Network for AIDS Research in Los Angeles (NARLA), which is led by UCLA CARE Center’s investigators, is wrapping up its current series of investigations on novel treaments and prevention approaches for HIV in diverse populations at risk for HIV. We have applied for new grant funding to conduct additional new studies within NARLA, including a study of a new treatment for older adult HIV patients with a novel immune system stimulant and a new study of  a unique biomedical preventions for persons with chemical dependency problems who are at high risk for acquiring HIV.
• Dr Landovitz, a new faculty member is leading a county-wide effort to make HIV-post exposure prophylaxis available after high risk sexual exposures. The PQUAD project is expected to roll out in 2009.

Thus your support of the UCLA CARE Center is critically needed, especially in this time of decreased funding for both research and health care in general, and will allow us to continue our important work.  Thank you for your interest in the UCLA CARE Center