We extend hearty congratulations to our longstanding CBR member, Dr. Hélène Côté, an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. The Government of Canada just announced that Dr. Côté and her UBC colleagues, have been awarded a CIHR Team Grant to study accelerated aging in women, resulting from infection with HIV and/or anteretroviral therapy and the longterm effects on the health of their children.

Dr. Hélène Côté

While anti-retroviral therapies have dramatically improved the lives of HIV-infected people worlwide, the cumulative side effects that may be manifest over time, are only starting to be appreciated. A major focus of Dr. Côté’s lab over the past several years, has been to investigate the mechanisms by which these different drugs alter mitochondrial DNA, and how they in turn impact on the health of mothers and their children. This innovative multi-disciplinary, national research program will systematically address many key outstanding issues in this field, the results of which will no doubt be of enormous, longterm benefit to millions of HIV-infected individuals – adults and children – throughout the world.

This $2.5 million grant that is funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research HIV/AIDS Research Initiative will be shared with 2 other principal investigators at UBC, Drs. Deborah Money and Neora Pick.

To see the UBC Announcement, please follow this link.