• Overview- PDF
• Scientific Research Agenda - PDF 
• Resources
• OHARA Collaboration Documents 
• Laboratories
• Publications

Oral HIV/AIDS Research Alliance (OHARA) Subcommittee

Chair: Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Vice-Chair: Mahmoud A. Ghannoum, M.Sc., Ph.D.

OHARA was created in 2006 as a subcommittee of the Optimization of Co-Infection and Co-Morbidity Management (OpMAN) Scientific Committee within the AIDS Clinical Trails Group (ACTG) in response to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) component of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)  ACTG Network request to develop a comprehensive approach to improve the clinical diagnosis, treatment, and management of co-morbidities of AIDS-related oral complications.  

The main themes of the OHARA scientific research agenda are:

Non-interventional clinical studies

• Scope of HIV-related oral disease in the era of a new generation of antiretrovirals
• Use of oral candidiasis as a marker of HIV disease progression in resource-limited settings
• Use of oral fluid for diagnostic and monitoring purposes of HIV infection, immune status, and other systemic  opportunistic infections
• Replication of HIV and opportunistic pathogens in oral mucosal associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) as compared to gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT)
• HIV-associated salivary gland disease and involvement of lymphoid tissue

Interventional clinical studies

• Use of inexpensive topical therapies in the management of oral candidiasis and necrotizing ulcerative oral diseases in resource-poor settings
• Prevention and management of HPV-associated oral warts

The OHARA infrastructure, including a list of investigators from each site, and the composition of various committees, and current activities, can be found in the Overview PowerPoint presentation located above.

For more information, please contact the OHARA subcommittee via actg.oharastr@fstrf.org.

 *webpage is currently undergoing revisions