Methamphetamine use worsens neurocognitive impairment in people with HIV (HIV-NCI), but the mechanism by which it worsens the problem is not well understood. Joan W. Berman, Ph.D., has received a five-year, $2.1 million National Institutes of Health grant to study the possible roles of two chemokines (secreted proteins that direct immune-cell movement) in HIV-NCI. The chemokines CXCR7 and CXCR4 help a particular group of white blood cells cross from the bloodstream to the brain, where the cells help replenish HIV reservoirs in the brain and contribute to the chronic low-level neuroinflammation that characterize HIV-NCI.

Dr. Berman and her colleagues targeting CXCR7 may be useful in treating HIV-NCI in people with methamphetamine use disorder.

Dr. Berman is professor of pathology, of microbiology & immunology, and the Irving D. Karpas Chair in Medicine at Einstein. (1R01DA056261-01A1)