The MWCCS is a collaborative research effort that aims to understand and reduce the impact of chronic health conditions—including heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) disorders—that affect people living with HIV. The study is designed to investigate a spectrum of questions relating to the basic science, clinical science, and epidemiology of HIV infection in the U.S., with a focus on comorbidities among men and women living with HIV. Learn more about the characteristics of cohort participants in the Characteristics of the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study: Opportunities for Research on Aging with HIV in the Longest US Observational Study of HIV article.
Major areas of investigation include:
- Cardiovascular and pulmonary
- Neuropsychological
- Aging
- Cancer
- Psychosocial
- Health disparities
Learn more about our study with this overview: MWCCS Dossier
MWCCS provides researchers from different disciplines with opportunities to focus on heart, lung, blood, and sleep co-morbidities as well as other conditions known to co-occur with HIV disease, including mental health and neurologic illnesses, diabetes, kidney failure, liver diseases, and certain cancers. This new research effort will build on the valuable information we have already learned from the MACS and WIHS studies and their dedicated participants, including how best to manage HIV, and the link between low immune cell counts and the progression of HIV-associated co-morbidities.
For decades, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has supported the separate MACS and WIHS cohort studies. MACS was a study of gay and bisexual men, while WIHS was a study of women who had other risk factors for HIV.
The MWCCS integrates these two longstanding, longitudinal studies and will continue follow-up of the current participants enrolled at 13 MACS/WIHS clinical research sites (CRS) in addition to recruiting new participants with characteristics that reflect the U.S. population living with HIV or at risk for HIV.
In 2019, the NHLBI became the primary steward of the new MACS/WIHS CCS. For this effort, the NHLBI is working in close collaboration with the NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) as well as several co-funding institutes across the NIH.
While MWCCS is a new study, it has a rich history and will continue to investigate questions at the forefront of HIV research. To learn more about our history and the MACS and WIHS studies, visit Our History.
