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About

The overarching aim of the STIPnet consortium is to understand the current epidemic of sexually-transmitted infections and to understand the syndemic and inter-relatedness of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Indeed, studies have demonstrated that STIs can promote/inhibit each other. Furthermore, STIPnet plans to understand the frequency of antimicrobial resistance and the efficacy of current STI treatment options. Thus, we will determine the incidence and rate of recurrence of STIs in conjunction with the treatment choices and antimicrobial resistance data. In addition to examining sociological and economic factors contributing to these infections, STIPnet will also determine how potential host factors such as inflammation and differences in the microbiome contribute to infections.

Our major objectives include:

To determine prevalence, incidence, co-infection frequency, and re-infection frequency of hepatitis and bacterial STIs, including relatedness to underlying or incident HIV
To determine the inter-relatedness and the synergistic epidemic of STI infections and HIV
To assess host genetic, immunological and microbiome-associated factors linked to HIV and STI infections
To determine socio-economic and behavioral factors associated with HIV/STI infections
To develop an integrated and sustainable network of HIV and STI clinicians, researchers and community organization throughout Europe
To build a public-private partnerships to iteratively test novel prevention concepts