Ard van Sighem :: hivmonitoring

Senior researcher
My research involves investigating the course and the changes in the HIV epidemic in the Netherlands since the early 1980’s up till the present day. To achieve this I am using mathematical modelling as a tool to analyse the relevant data in the ATHENA cohort, which is the database maintained by the Stichting HIV Monitoring, and other national data sources. I am investigating how HIV is spreading within risk groups, how these risk groups have changed over time, and how interventions would act on the future course of the epidemic.

I am also interested in the more patient-specific side of the HIV epidemic. In particular, I am investigating the risk of progression to death in the era of combination treatment in which specific groups of patients can achieve a near normal life expectancy. Also, I am studying incidence of and risk factors for non-AIDS diseases in the ageing HIV-infected population, in particular their relation with CD4 cell counts and HIV RNA levels.

Lastly, together with the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and with colleagues in the United Kingdom and Switzerland, I am investigating and improving methods to estimate the size of HIV population in countries within the European Union and the European Economic Area.

Short bio
I was trained as a particle physicist at Leiden University and obtained my PhD in 2000 at the University of Amsterdam. Thereafter, I was a researcher with the AIDS Therapy and Evaluation Netherlands (ATHENA) project which investigated the long-term efficacy, safety, and outcome of the at that time new combination antiretroviral treatment. Since 2002, I am working as a senior researcher for the Stichting HIV Monitoring.

Recent publications

van Veen MG, Presanis AM, Conti S, Xiridou M, Stengaard AR, Donoghoe MC, van Sighem AI, van der Sande MA, De Angelis D. National estimate of HIV prevalence in the Netherlands: comparison and applicability of different estimation tools. AIDS 2011 Jan 14;25(2):229-37.
Study Group on Death Rates at High CD4 Count in Antiretroviral Naive Patients, Lodwick RK, Sabin CA, Porter K, Ledergerber B, van Sighem A, Cozzi-Lepri A, Khaykin P, Mocroft A, Jacobson L, De Wit S, Obel N, Castagna A, Wasmuth JC, Gill J, Klein MB, Gange S, Riera M, Mussini C, Gutiérrez F, Touloumi G, Carrieri P, Guest JL, Brockmeyer NH, Phillips AN. Death rates in HIV-positive antiretroviral-naive patients with CD4 count greater than 350 cells per microL in Europe and North America: a pooled cohort observational study. Lancet 2010 Jul 31;376(9738):340-5.
Zhang S, van Sighem A, Gras L, Reiss P, Smit C, Kroon F, Jurriaans S, Prins J, Lange J, de Wolf F. Clinical significance of transient HIV type-1 viraemia and treatment interruptions during suppressive antiretroviral treatment. Antivir Ther 2010;15(4):555-62.
van Sighem AI, Gras LA, Reiss P, Brinkman K, de Wolf F; ATHENA national observational cohort study. Life expectancy of recently diagnosed asymptomatic HIV-infected patients approaches that of uninfected individuals. AIDS 2010 Jun 19;24(10):1527-35.
Pursuing Later Treatment Options II (PLATO II) Project Team for the Collaboration of Observational HIV Epidemiological Research Europe (COHERE), Lodwick R, Costagliola D, Reiss P, Torti C, Teira R, Dorrucci M, Ledergerber B, Mocroft A, Podzamczer D, Cozzi-Lepri A, Obel N, Masquelier B, Staszewski S, García F, De Wit S, Castagna A, Antinori A, Judd A, Ghosn J, Touloumi G, Mussini C, Duval X, Ramos J, Meyer L, Warsawski J, Thorne C, Masip J, Pérez-Hoyos S, Pillay D, van Sighem A, Lo Caputo S, Günthard H, Paredes R, De Luca A, Paraskevis D, Fabre-Colin C, Kjaer J, Chêne G, Lundgren JD, Phillips AN. Triple-class virologic failure in HIV-infected patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy for up to 10 years. Arch Intern Med. 2010 Mar 8;170(5):410-9.
Bezemer D, van Sighem A, Lukashov VV, van der Hoek L, Back N, Schuurman R, Boucher CA, Claas EC, Boerlijst MC, Coutinho RA, de Wolf F; ATHENA observational cohort. Transmission networks of HIV-1 among men having sex with men in the Netherlands. AIDS 2010 Jan 16;24(2):271-82.
Fung IC, Gambhir M, van Sighem A, de Wolf F, Garnett GP. Superinfection with a heterologous HIV strain per se does not lead to faster progression. Math Biosci 2010 Mar;224(1):1-9.