Rosemarie Booze, who holds the Bicentennial Chair in Behavioral Neuroscience, is being funded by the National Institutes of Health to map out the cellular mechanisms by which HIV and cocaine team up to ravage brain tissue in women. Women who intravenously abuse cocaine represent the fastest-growing population of new HIV infections in the United States.

For reasons still unknown, women who contract HIV and abuse cocaine usually suffer from a faster progression of HIV to AIDS, often experiencing mental dementia during the end stages of the disease.

"We've found that cocaine and methamphetamine increase the toxicity of HIV in the brain," Booze said. "Anti-viral drugs have tranformed HIV into a chronic disease, but the virus can find sanctuary in the brain where medications have difficulty penetrating. And the virus—particularly when it's coupled with cocaine—can cause a lot of damage in the brain."

To study the specific cellular effects of HIV and cocaine in brain tissue, Booze’s research lab is examining normal and HIV-positive brain samples removed during autopsies. The research team also is using animal models and Petri dish specimens to determine the levels of estrogen present in brain tissue and to examine individual neurons to see how estrogen protects them from HIV.

"We’ve learned that estrogen can protect neurons against viral toxins, but we also know that an HIV infection decreases estrogen levels," Booze said. "We're interested in exploring a new potential treatment with hormone-like drugs that could have implications for all dementia diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's."

Once developed and proven effective, these hormone-like medications could replace or complement current anti-viral drugs, which often have many unpleasant side effects, Booze said.

Booze joined USC’s Department of Psychology last summer from the University of Kentucky and brought with her two research assistant professors and two research associates.

She is planning collaborations with School of Medicine researchers and other neuroscientists interested in clinical research.

06/03