UPR/MSC CURRENT PROJECTS
AND ACTIVITIES
Selected Campus Projects Relevant to Women's Health
Women and Infants Transmission Study (WITS)
The Women and Infants Transmission Study (WITS) is a multi-center longitudinal, natural history study of pregnant women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and their offspring. This study has had two major phases. WITS 1 enrolled three cohorts including HIV-infected pregnant women and the offspring of HIV-infected women from 1990 through 1993. WITS 2 recruits only HIV-infected pregnant women and their offspring and will follow all postpartum women and their children from both WITS 1 and WITS 2 until the end of the study in 1998. This prospective cohort study is designed to answer questions such as likelihood of HIV transmission, the effect of perinatally acquired HIV infection on the infant, and the most effective means for early diagnosis of HIV infection in the infant. Current research also seeks to determine risk factors for ante-partum vs. intra-partum transmission and the most useful predictors for HIV disease progression in postpartum.
There are six clinic sites participating in WITS 2, namely State University of New York (SUNY); the Boston Consortium of Hospitals including University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, Central Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, Boston City Hospital, Children's Hospital and Bringham and Women's Hospital; the University of Illinois, Chicago; Baylor University, Houston, Texas; Columbia Presbyterian, New York City; and the University of Puerto Rico, School of Medicine, San Juan. The New England Research Institute of Watertown, Massachusetts serves as the Statistical and Coordinating Center (SACCC). Four central laboratories are responsible for processing and analyzing specific WITS 2 laboratory specimens. It is expected that the number of cases of pediatric AIDS will be eventually reduced by lowering the risks of transmission of the virus from mother to infant. Dr. Carmen Zorrilla, Co-Principal Investigator of the WITS Project, will be Assistant Director of the Research Component in the proposed project.
