AIDS Center

US-Georgia Workshop

US-Georgia Workshop:

The Intersections of TB, HIV, Hepatitis and Substance Abuse in Georgia

Setting the Research Agenda in Infectious Diseases

May 27-28, 2008

Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia

Overview:

The major goals of the conference were:

To provide an update on current and future research initiatives on the epidemiology, prevention, and management of infectious disease, specifically TB, HIV, and HCV.
To address the intersection of infectious disease and substance use, particularly injecting drug use.
To continue to jointly mentor Fogarty graduates in the development of new proposals, publications and their academic career.
To establish an infectious disease research agenda and priorities in Georgia, and to integrate them with public health training programs.

The audience were selected includes researchers and physicians from the Republic of Georgia from institutions that collaborate with the NIH Fogarty International Programs as well as former trainees. Additionally we will continue our efforts to expand the in-country capacity for multidisciplinary research by reviewing and identifying areas that would support emerging training programs in Public Health.

The conference was jointly conducted by US and Georgian partner organizations. The International Training and Research Programs at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, University at Albany and Emory University, along with the Infectious Disease, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center in Tbilisi, the Center for Disease Control and Public Health, the National Center for TB and Lung Diseases and the Georgian National TB Reference Laboratory. Also there were represented georgian NGO-s working in field infectious disease and substance use.