The Primary Infection Clinic's longstanding natural history study began enrolling patients in 1992, and some of the earliest enrollees are still being followed.
The University of Washington Primary Infection clinic was founded in 1992 to study the biology and epidemiology of newly acquired HIV infection. The project was originally established by Drs. Corey, Collier, McElrath, and Schacker, and funded by the UW Centers for AIDS Research. Subsequent funding has been through the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The initial goals of the program were to study the natural history of HIV infection and to evaluate whether the initial virologic and immunologic events of early infection would provide insights that could lead to new approaches to clinical care of HIV infection.
In subsequent years, the program began adding clinical trials to the underlying natural history studies. The first was a study of the drug d4T in 1995. In 1996, the PIC worked with drug manufacturer Merck on a study in which patients were given the combination of AZT, 3TC, and Indinavir.
In late 1999, the PIC began enrolling patients in a treatment study as part of the AIEDRP network. Patients enrolled in the AIEDRP 02-001 study had a choice of starting one of two different drug regimens, or not starting treatment.
More recently, the PIC has been involved in ACTU studies looking at the viral setpoint in treated versus untreated patients, and a blinded vaccine versus placebo trial.
Additionally, as the science of HIV research has evolved, the PIC natural history study has evolved to focus on enrolling those most acutely infected, to more closely examine what happens in the body immediately after infection.