Project Grant R01DA067338
- The National Institute on Aging awarded Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans $748,679 on August 5, 2026, under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to conduct an autopsy-based study examining the anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis on Alzheimer's disease-associated neuropathology in people living with HIV. The recipient will analyze full-body autopsy tissues collected from decedents with and without HIV-1 to characterize HIV-1 tissue reservoirs, assess cannabis use...
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded Tulane University (The Administrators of Tulane Educational Fund) $1,002,979 on September 1, 2026, for exploratory studies of HIV infection and pathogenesis in the context of THC use under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279). The research investigates whether cannabinoids can reprogram leukocytes and glial cells to less inflammatory phenotypes, potentially reducing central nervous system seeding and persistence of the HIV...
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded Duke University $731,879 on May 1, 2026, under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) to investigate the impact of cannabis use on the inflammasome in people with HIV compared to HIV-seronegative persons. The research leverages biospecimens from a cohort of clinically and neurologically phenotyped HIV-infected cannabis users and non-users to determine how recreational cannabis use modulates the NLRP3 inflammasome and its effects on...
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham $1.765 million on April 15, 2026, under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) to investigate how cannabis use impacts T cell phenotype, HIV seeding and persistence in the central nervous system, and neuropathogenesis in people living with HIV. The project, titled "The Impact of Substance Use on the Role of T Cells in HIV CNS Reservoir Seeding, Persistence, and Neuropathogenesis,"...
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded the University of California, San Diego $1,233,586 on September 1, 2026, under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) to investigate epigenetic and neuroimmune mechanisms underlying cannabis-cannabinoid neuroimmunomodulation in people living with HIV. The recipient will conduct integrated clinical, postmortem, and mechanistic research examining how THC and CBD reshape the neuroimmune axis in people living with HIV through...
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded the University of California, San Diego $3,001,884 under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) on June 1, 2026, to conduct translational and cross-species studies of cannabis use and HIV effects on mitochondrial homeostasis in brain macrophages. The research combines a clinical observational study with cellular and in vivo preclinical models to determine how cannabis use affects TREM2-mediated changes in mitochondrial function...
- The National Institute on Aging awarded The Administrators of Tulane Educational Fund (Tulane University) $871,998 on August 1, 2026, under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to investigate accelerated aging in the central nervous system of SIV-infected macaques. The research focuses on astrocyte dysfunction as a central mechanism driving HIV-associated accelerated aging and cognitive decline. The study examines how activated astrocytes in brain regions increase leukocyte transmigration...
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health under the Department of Health and Human Services, awarded The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco $2,110,624 on August 1, 2026, under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279). The award funds research assessing the impact of stimulant and polysubstance use on brain aging in people living with HIV, leveraging existing brain MRI data, proteomics datasets, and cognitive...
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded The Johns Hopkins University $698,861 on August 15, 2026, under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) to conduct research characterizing mitochondrial regulation of inflammaging in immune cells and neurons and its effects on cognitive function among people with HIV who use substances. The research addresses cognitive impairment affecting 30 to 60 percent of people with HIV, with persons who inject drugs representing a particularly...
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, through its University of Nebraska Medical Center division, $544,256 on May 15, 2026, under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279). The award funds research into the role of microglial ferritinophagy in HIV and cocaine-mediated neuroinflammation. The research addresses HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (NeuroHIV) that persist in approximately 30–60 percent of people living...
The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans $723,353 under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) on September 1, 2026. The award funds research examining HIV-associated premature aging through cannabinoid-mediated anti-inflammatory mechanisms. The recipient's research team has established an autopsy program studying HIV viral tissue reservoirs and neuropathogenesis in deceased people living with HIV, analyzing 459 full-body autopsy cases including brain tissues. Preliminary findings indicate that HIV tissue reservoirs were significantly reduced in cases with cannabis use and correlated with decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines; DNA methylation epigenetic clock analyses also showed that people with HIV who used cannabis exhibited cell-type specific biological aging of neurons similar to uninfected individuals of comparable age, suggesting cannabis may slow neuronal aging through anti-inflammatory effects. The project expands this preliminary analysis to further determine the extent of brain cell-type specific biological aging and the role of cannabinoid-mediated mechanisms in mitigating premature aging. Work is performed in New Orleans, Louisiana. The project period runs from September 1, 2026, through June 30, 2031. The assistance type is a Project Grant, supporting basic and translational research in substance use and related health outcomes including HIV/AIDS.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $723.4k | 8/24/26 |