Pitt gets $11M grant from Gates for HIV research

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The University of Pittsburgh has received $11 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for four research projects regarding the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Monday that one project will attempt to determine whether birth control shots make women more likely to contract the virus.

Sharon Hiller, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences says researchers are "trying to unravel some of the mysteries that have popped up in the last year or so suggesting (contraceptive methods) might be associated with increased susceptibility to HIV."

The research is being done through Pitt's Schools of Health Sciences and Magee-Womens Research Institute."

Another of the four studies will measure the effectiveness of a long-acting HIV drug that is injected into the muscle of people who don't have the virus.

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