The NIH funded MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS) is one study carried out at Downstate’s Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC). The study aims to advance the basic, clinical, behavioral, and epidemiological science of HIV infection. The MWCCS is comprised of two successful long-term studies of HIV: the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS, begun in 1981) and the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS, begun in 1993). With a focus on HIV-related comorbidities and aging with HIV, we are prospectively following more than 3,300 well-characterized persons living with and without HIV at 13 sites nationwide with semi-annual, protocol-driven visits that include collection of biological specimens for immediate testing and repository storage for future studies.  Further, MWCCS is recruiting 2,500 new participants with an emphasis on black and Hispanic MSM and adults in the southern US.
The Brooklyn Clinical Research Site (Bklyn CRS), led by mPIs Drs. Deborah Gustafson and Tracey Wilson, contributes to MWCCS success via participation in protocols related to state-of-the-art comprehensive MWCCS Specific Aims. These Aims are related to cardiovascular disease, pulmonary function, sleep, cognition, aging, HIV pathogenesis, cancer, and psychosocial and health disparities factors. The Bklyn CRS participates and provides leadership in a variety of substudies and new protocols including fibroscan, echocardiogram, pulmonary function, sleep, frailty, loneliness and social isolation, genetics, brain imaging, cerebrovascular disease and stroke, vascular cognitive disorders, and obesity. The Bklyn CRS is also committed to train and develop early stage HIV researchers.
The Bklyn CRS has a strong history of successful retention and now re-enrollment of participants. Since we were able to safely resume in-person visits in 2021, the Bklyn CRS has enrolled and performed clinical visits in Downstate's CTSC for 282 women as of June 7th, 2022.  A description of the study, local contact information and a link to the MWCCS website is posted on the HIV program section of the Downstate website (https://www.starprogram.nyc/research/https-mwccs-org/).