National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium Data Coordinating Center

The Data Coordinating Center supports the National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium. The Center is a resource for investigators conducting neuroAIDS research to identify the neuropathogenic mechanisms involved in HIV disease of the central and peripheral nervous systems.

The National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium is composed of four Clinical Sites and two Center sites, at UNMC and the Emmes Corporation, Rockville, MD. The sites  work cooperatively as a resource for the research community, providing HIV/AIDS investigators with clinically annotated datasets of antemortem information and associated experimental research datasets derived from postmortem tissue and fluids. The Data Coordinating Center provides the National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium with scientific leadership, management expertise, bioinformatics and information systems infrastructure, statistical and epidemiology expertise and serves as a voting member of the Consortium Steering Committee.

The Data Coordinating Centerworks cooperatively with the Consortium Clinical Sites to provide:

1. Management and database capabilities to ensure effective clinical and brain banking operations and
2. Scientific expertise in biostatistics and HIV epidemiology to support broad analyses of the National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium and CNS HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research Study clinical databases and analyses that support the recruitment and retention goals for the cohort.

The has produced over 535 peer-reviewed publications, over 215 abstracts/book chapters/presentations, as well as supporting the work on numerous researchers' grants. The Data Coordinating Center serves as the point of contact for users of the resource (tissue and/or data requests) and services the requests from submission through fulfillment of the request and follow up with the requestors to curate and annotate experimental data derived from National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium specimens used in their research. These results are publicly available on the NeuroAIDS-Data Coordinating Center website for request shaping and post-hoc analyses.

The National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium website is used extensively for dissemination of information related to the National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium clinical cohort (query tools, reports, request applications) and management tasks such as resource tracking, document libraries, and communication activities. The NeuroAIDS-Data Coordinating Center website hosts experimental data generated from National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium specimens and is the point of access for the CNS HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research Studyclinical research database. An inventory of all NNTC and CNS HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research Studyspecimens housed at each National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium Clinical Site is maintained on the National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium and NeuroAIDS-Data Coordinating Center research data websites, as are databases of additional research data beyond clinical assessments (e.g. bioinformatics datasets generated by the users of the resource).

The NeuroAIDS-Data Coordinating Center website also houses information related to the Global CSF Escape and Reservoir Consortium for HIV-1. The NeuroAIDS-Data Coordinating Center website also hosts the Global CSF Escape and Reservoir Consortium for HIV-1, a new initiative designed to spur increased research and understanding of CSF escape and its implications in HIV reservoir establishment, viral suppression, and impact on the cure strategies. The Data Coordinating Center promotes the National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium through public relations materials including a comprehensive website and meeting presentations.

The National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium has served as a valuable resource to the neuroAIDS research community since 1998 (Cohort Reports as of February 2, 2017).