Research Activities
Research
The WHO Collaborating Centre is a part of the Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, Medical School in Zagreb. Hence, carrying out research in HIV epidemiology and prevention is one of our key activities. The research interest of the Centre’s staff is in HIV-surveillance related research and exploring which surveillance approaches and techniques work best in different settings, as well as in epidemiology and clinical outcomes of HIV and STIs. We aim to put an increasing emphasis on validating different surveillance tools and approaches, and on synthesizing findings on how surveillance systems can achieve better effectiveness by exploring epidemiological, and wider contextual factors including:
- Methodological innovations in HIV surveillance
- Studies that develop and validate new surveillance tools and their feasibility in practice
- Operational research that explores the factors affecting effectiveness and sustainability of HIV surveillance systems
- Relevance and types of qualitative research that are useful for surveillance purposes, particularly during pre-surveillance assessment
- Translations of findings from HIV surveillance into HIV prevention, control and treatment programmes
- Role of STIs in enhancing the spread of HIV
Since 2002, we have co-organized the workshops on Designing Clinical Research with University of San Francisco, California. Almost each of our training courses includes the group exercises during which participants develop a protocol for implementation of various bio-behavioural surveys in different groups at-risk. A great emphasis is put on the methods and design of surveys during the protocol development exercise.
We have carried out the following research studies:
- Cluster-based household survey on sexual behaviours, knowledge and attitudes among young people in Croatia in 2005
- Time-location survey among truck drivers in Croatia in 2005
- Survey based on convenience sampling among sailors in Croatia in 2005
- Respondent-driven sampling survey among MSM in Zagreb, Croatia in 2006
- Respondent-driven sampling surveys among IDUs in three cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2007 (commissioned by UNICEF)
- Respondent-driven sampling survey and pre-surveillance assessment among FSW in Yemen, 2007-2008 (commissioned by WHO EMRO)
- Review of HIV epidemics and policy responses among MSM in 27 countries of eastern Europe (commissioned by WHO EURO)
- Cluster-based household survey on prevalence of chlamydial infection and sexual behaviours, knowledge and attitudes among young people in Croatia in 2010
Selected HIV-related publications of staff:
Stulhofer A, Baćak V, Ajduković D, Graham C. Understanding the association between condom use at first and most recent sexual intercourse: An assessment of normative, calculative, and habitual explanations.Soc Sci Med 2010; PMID: 20362377.
Grgic I, Zidovec Lepej S, Vince A, Begovac J. Increased frequency of viral loads above 100,000 HIV-1 RNA copies/ml measured by Roche Cobas TaqMan assay in comparison with Cobas Amplicor assay. J Clin Virol 2010; 48(1):75-6.
Stulhofer A, Baćak V, Drglin T, Puljiz M, Miklin M. Female sex work and HIV risks in Croatia. AIDS Care 2009; 21(11): 1439-46.
Lepej SZ, Vrakela IB, Poljak M, Bozicevic I, Begovac J. Phylogenetic analysis of HIV sequences obtained in a respondent-driven sampling study of men who have sex with men. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2009; 25(12):1335-8.
Turcinov D, Stanley C, Rutherford GW, Novotny TE, Begovac J. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of body-shape changes in Croatian patients treated with combination antiretroviral therapy. Eur J Epidemiol 2009; 24(5):267-74.
Ramirez-Piedad MK, Lepej SZ, Yerly S, Begovac J. High prevalence of non-B HIV-1 subtypes in seamen and their sexual partners in Croatia. J Med Virol. 2009; 81(4):573-7.
Viskovic K, Richman I, Klasnic K, Hernandez A, Krolo I, Rutherford GW, Romih V, Begovac J. Assessment of ultrasound for use in detecting lipoatrophy in HIV-infected patients taking combination antiretroviral therapy. AIDS Patient Care STDS 2009; 23(2):79-84.
Bozicevic I, Rode OD, Lepej SZ, Johnston LG, Stulhofer A, Dominkovic Z, Bacak V, Lukas D, Begovac J. Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Zagreb, Croatia. AIDS Behav 2008; 32(3):693-5.
Rode OD, Lepej SZ, Begovac J. Seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 in adult HIV-infected patients and blood donors in Croatia. Coll Antropol 2008; 32(3):693-5.
Stulhofer A, Bacak V, Bozicevic I, Begovac J. HIV-related sexual risk taking among HIV-negative men who have sex with men in Zagreb, Croatia. AIDS Behav 2008; 12(3):505-12.
Stulhofer A. HIV related risks among Croatian migrant workers 2004-2006. AIDS Care 2008; 20(3):361-9.
Stulhofer A, Graham C, Božičević I, Kufrin K, Ajduković D. An Assessment of HIV/STI Vulnerability and Related Sexual Risk-Taking in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Croatian Adults. Arch Sex Behav 2007; 38(2):209-25.
Stulhofer A, Graham C, Bozicevic I, Kufrin K, Ajduković D. HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes and sexual behaviors as predictors of condom use among young adults in Croatia. Int Fam Plan Perspect 2007; 33(2):58-65.
Stulhofer A, Brouillard P, Nikolić N, Greiner N. HIV/AIDS and Croatian migrant workers. Coll Antropol. 2006; 30 Suppl 2:105-14.
Hirsl-Hećej V, Stulhofer A. Condom use and its consistency among metropolitan high school students in Croatia, 1997-2001: has anything changed? Coll Antropol 2006; 30 Suppl 2:71-8.
Bozicević I, Stulhofer A, Ajduković D, Kufrin K. Patterns of sexual behaviour and reported symptoms of STI/RTIs among young people in Croatia--implications for interventions' planning. Coll Antropol 2006; 30 Suppl 2:63-70.
Bozicevic I, Fenton KA, Martin IM, Rudd EA, Ison CA, Nanchahal K, Wellings K.
Epidemiological correlates of asymptomatic gonorrhea. Sex Transm Dis 2006; 33(5):289-95.
Begovac J, Zekan A, Skoko-Poljak D. Twenty years of human immunodeficiency virus infection in Croatia--an epidemic that is still in an early stage. Coll Antropol 2006; 30 Suppl 2:17-23.
Coll Antropol. 2006; 30 Suppl 2:99-103.
Puljiz I, Begovac J. Tuberculosis in HIV-infected patients in Croatia between 1986 and 2005. Coll Antropol 2006; 30 Suppl 2:53-8.
Begovac J, Lisić M, Lukas D, Maretić T, Kniewald T, Novotny TE.Marked improvement in survival among adult Croatian AIDS patients after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment. Coll Antropol. 2006; 30(1):175-9.
