A cross-section of articles we've read this week about HIV/AIDS, STIs and a wide cross-section of structural and systemic factors impacting HIV/AIDS in Black communities.

Science

More Evidence for Possible Link Between Cocaine Use and HIV Infection

New UCLA research offers further evidence that cocaine use disrupts the immune system, making people who use it more likely to become infected with HIV.

PrEP Data Links Anti-HIV Immune Response to Reduce Chance of Infection

Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that some individuals exposed to HIV-1, but who remain uninfected, have a certain pattern of virus-specific immune responses that differentiated them from individuals who became infected. The findings build upon prior research by studying these responses in the context of a controlled clinical trial, examining a large number of subjects, and by having access to specimens saved before anyone was infected. In the future, this information could be used to assess HIV-1 infection risk or inform the design of a preventative HIV-1 vaccine.

Scripps Team Lays 'Spectacular' Foundations for HIV Vaccine

"A leap forward" has been made to develop a vaccine against HIV, claim the authors of two new studies that are published concurrently in the journals Cell and Science.

Treatment

Drug for Diabetes May Lower Heart Attack Risk in HIV Patients

The diabetes drug sitagliptin (Januvia) may have benefits beyond lowering blood glucose in patients with HIV. A new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that the drug may prevent cardiovascular problems because it works to reduce inflammation linked to heart disease and stroke.

Miscellaneous

Activist Argues The Conversation About AIDS Reflects The 'Diminishing Of Black Lives'

We may be closer than ever to "the beginning of the end of the AIDS epidemic," but Phill Wilson, president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, says it's too early to declare victory just yet.

Fewer Poor Uninsured After Health Law, Study Finds

WASHINGTON - The share of poor Americans who were uninsured declined substantially in 2014, according to the first full year of federal data since the Affordable Care Act extended coverage to millions of Americans last year.

Five More Things South Carolina Can Do After Taking Down the Confederate Flag

Gov. Nikki Haley declared on Monday that "it is time" for South Carolina to remove the Confederate flag from its capitol's grounds in Columbia.

NYC Gives Stonewall Inn Landmark Status

Bar is widely recognized as the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.

People Living with HIV Share Their Stories on Responding to HIV/AIDS Over Past 30 Years

'Through Our Eyes' is an inspiring and insightful anthology that captures first-hand stories of people living with HIV responding to the HIV and AIDS epidemics in Australia over the past 30 years. Reg Domingo reports.

PrEP is Not Linked to Greater Risk for Depression

A new paper out of the iPrEx study-a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of daily oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in men and transgender women who have sex with men-reported no link between taking Truvada for oral PrEP and experiencing depression.

Which Atlanta ZIP Codes Have the Highest Prevalence of HIV/AIDS?

Recent U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention data put Atlanta at No. 5 among U.S. cities for new HIV diagnoses, and a project developed in part by Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health has released an interactive heat map of HIV prevalence in the city.

Why The HIV Prevention Drug, PrEP, Remains So Divisive Among The LGBT Community

Many in the gay community have been divided on the HIV/AIDS prevention drug Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, since it was first introduced in 2012. Some medical sources have argued that the side effects of its use are unclear, and that patients' adherence to taking the pill regularly could be erratic. 

Yes, I'm Still on PrEP, and Yes, I Still Think of It as a Godsend

Seriously, why are more gay men not taking PrEP? And why has the straight community practically never heard of It?