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Special Treatment and Research Program (STAR) STAR Health Center: The STAR Health Center provides clinical care and support services for HIV positive individuals. Care includes full gynecological services, patient education, social work/case management, nutritional counseling, medication adherence counseling, substance use counseling, and psychiatry consultation. Patients have twenty-four hour telephone access to clinic staff for medical consultation, and can be seen for emergency evaluations for hospital admission as needed at any time. The clinic also provides confidential HIV counseling and testing for adults. The STAR Health Center is the ambulatory care site for the University Hospital of Brooklyn's (UHB) Designated AIDS Center, as certified by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. It is funded by Ryan White Title III through Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and by University Hospital. Brooklyn Group Support Project (BGSP): BGSP provides support groups for individuals infected and affected by HIV both at University Hospital and Kings County Hospital Center. It offers seven weekly long-term HIV support groups in English and Haitian Creole, including five groups for adults with HIV/AIDS and two groups for family members. Funding is provided by Ryan White Title I through the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, Inc. Project HOPE: Project HOPE (Helping Others Through Personal Experience) provides case management through individual and group counseling to teens of individuals who are HIV positive. The program utilizes art, recreation, and verbal group therapy as well as brief family therapy to help teens deal with the psychological implications of their parents' illness. Funding for this program is also provided by Ryan White Title I.  Community Education Adolescent Education Program (AEP): The AEP provides preventive education and counseling to youths at risk by training adolescents as peer educators. The teens make presentations at schools, churches, and community programs that service adolescents. The program provides individual and group counseling, as well as homework assistance to its peer educators. Additionally, the AEP provides presentations by professionals to speak to adolescent groups, and acts as a resource to the community and to health care professionals interested in adolescent HIV prevention. The program is funded by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute and the Tiger Foundation. Educating People at Risk (EPAR): The goal of this project is to identify African- American, Latino, and other people of color with HIV who are not in care, assess and address their barriers to care with specific interventions, and facilitate immediate access to medical care and psychosocial services. Program activities include: (1) intensive street outreach; (2) presentations on treatment education at community based organizations; (3) HIV counseling and testing; (4) provision of resources to address specific barriers to care; (5) follow-up and tracking of health care referrals. SUNY Downstate and nine other sites funded in New York City are collaborating with the New York Academy of Medicine's (NYAM) Office of Special Populations, which will develop and oversee a quantitative and qualitative outcome evaluation of this project for all sites. This project is funded through a special initiative of the Congressional Black Caucus with Ryan White Title I funding through the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, Inc. Clinical Education ATPM Preventive Medicine and Public Health Fellowship Program: The purpose of this two-year fellowship program is to develop a cadre of public health professionals prepared to assume leadership positions in the prevention of STDs and HIV. Fellows participate in a multi-disciplinary program consisting of research training in STD/HIV epidemiology, behavioral sciences, prevention and/or service delivery, as well as experience in the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health programs. This program is sponsored by the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine, with funding from the CDC. HIV Clinical Education Initiative: This program provides on-site HIV training for health care providers in Brooklyn. The program's mission is to respond to the HIV-related clinical education needs in community health care clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, drug treatment facilities, etc. Educational programs may be provided through lectures, workshops, case conferences, or satellite video conferences. Funding for this program is provided by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. HIV Clinical Scholars Program: This program trains physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in the HIV care, research, and HIV-related public health issues. Scholars who complete this two-year fellowship are certified as HIV Specialists by the New York State Department of Health. The STAR Health Center at UHB, the inpatient AIDS unit, the HIV Clinic at KCHC, the pediatric & adolescent (HEAT) clinics at KCHC, and Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center serve as the major clinical training sites for the program. Scholars attend a state-sponsored core lecture series, and participate in HIV seminars and journal clubs. Funding for the program is received from the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Prenatal Care Provider Project: This project was developed as part of the New York Coalition for the Prevention of Perinatal HIV Transmission's aim to increase prenatal HIV testing from baseline to 90 percent in New York State hospitals. The project provides education and offers technical assistance to prenatal care providers at targeted obstetrics departments in high HIV seroprevalence areas that have low rates of prenatal HIV counseling and testing. Technical assistance includes: (1) a pre-training assessment survey; (2) staff training; (3) train the trainers manual; and (4) a follow-up assessment. Project evaluation includes both process and outcome evaluation components. The project is funded by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Central/East European HIV Education Center: The overall goal of this center is to train a cadre of health care practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe on the elements of preventing and treating HIV disease. Health care fellowships in the U.S. provide broad based exposure to clinical and psychosocial issues. The program also offers an opportunity for individuals with advanced degrees to receive post-doctoral training in epidemiology and biomedical sciences at SUNY Albany School of Public Health. Funding is provided by the Fogarty International Center. Targeted Provider Education Program: The goal of this program is to provide HIV-related education to non-clinical health care providers in Brooklyn. Programs on topics such as HIV treatment, medication adherence, and substance use are presented on-site to health educators, peer workers, case management staff, etc. Funding is provided by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Research Determinants of HIV Testing and Perinatal ZDV Use: This study is assessing prenatal HIV testing and perinatal ZDV use in six hospitals in Brooklyn. The study is examining: (1) provider and client factors as interrelated determinants of HIV test taking and perinatal ZDV use; (2) the adverse social and psychological consequences of women found to be HIV infected; and (3) how to design a program which can reliably monitor the success of protocols implemented to enhance HIV testing rates. The study is funded by the CDC. HIV Clinical Trials: The STAR Health Center is currently conducting a number of clinical trials. These include a study of the effect of a weekly dosing regime of procrit (epoetin alfa) on the quality of life in the treatment of anemia in HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy, an open-label pilot study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Indinavir twice a day in combination with Ritonavir/d4T/3TC, and an open-label study to determine the efficacy and safety of Serostim in HIV patients with unintentional weight loss or body cell mass depletion on combination antiretroviral therapy with or without protease inhibitors. The following trials were completed in 1999: a Phase IV, non-comparative study to evaluate Fortavase soft gel capsule regimen with two NRTIs in HIV-1 infected women and men, identification of HIV-1 urine antibody positive, HIV-1 seronegative individuals, an open label, multi-center study to assess the safety and antiviral activity of a twice daily dosing regimen of Viracept combined with 2 RTIs in HIV-infected treatment-naive patients, a randomized, controlled trial of SCH 56592 oral suspension vs. Fluconazole tablets in the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis in HIV-infected patients. These trials are funded by Ortho Biotech, Merck and Company, Serano, Roche, Calypte, Agouron and Schering Plough. |
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