Importance of Studying Ways to Improve Cognition In Women With HIV

Leah H. Rubin, PhD, MPH, MA, assistant professor of Neurology and Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, discusses the importance of finding ways to improve cognitive function in women who are living with HIV.

Interview Transcript (modified slightly for readability):

“It’s important to study ways that we can improve cognition in women living with HIV. Particularly, I think, HIV-infected women may actually be more cognitively vulnerable compared to HIV-infected men. That’s for a number of reasons that kind of go with being from underserved communities—whether it’s poverty, low socioeconomic status, low education, substance abuse issues, trauma, mental health. For many of those reasons, that may actually contribute to greater vulnerabilities. I think HIV may contribute to that, but I think these additional comorbidities also may play a role.”