News Release

Grasso leads technical team's response to HHS HIV/AIDS Bureau announcement

Stevens Healthcare IT Management Advisory Board member proposes technical solution for enhancing access to and retention in quality HIV care for women of color

Grant and Award Announcement

Stevens Institute of Technology

HOBOKEN, N.J. – Dr. S. Vincent Grasso, a member of the Stevens Healthcare Information Technology Management Advisory Board was selected to lead the technical team on a $5-million dollar grant application to develop a HIPAA compliant, web-based data entry and reporting platform.

The grant was submitted to the Health Research Services Administration for the creation of an Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for HIV Women of Color. The grant proposal brings together a broad range of subject matter experts from clinical and academic medicine, research, technology, finance and public policy.

Citing President Barack Obama's vision of improving quality healthcare to all Americans, the team is responding to a call from the Department of Health and Human Services' HIV/AIDS Bureau.

The issue is of particular importance, the group says, based on recent HIV data released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the August 2008 report:

  • Women accounted for 26 percent of the estimated 37,163 diagnoses for adults and adolescents.
  • Of the 126,964 women living with HIV/AIDS, 64 percent were black, 19 percent were white, 15 percent were Hispanic, 1 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander, and less than 1 percent were American Indian or Alaska Native.
  • The rate of AIDS diagnosis for black women (45.5/100,000 women) was approximately 23 times the rate for white women (2.0/100,000) and four times the rate for Hispanic women (11.2/100,000).
  • An estimated 95,959 women were living with AIDS, representing 23% of the estimated 421,873 people living with AIDS in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The 2005 census showed that black and Hispanic women represent 24 percent of all US women. However, women in these two groups accounted for 82 percent of the estimated total of AIDS diagnoses for women. Risk factors involved in this trend include but are not limited to a younger age at diagnosis, lack of recognition of a partner's risk factors, high risk heterosexual risk factors, substance abuse, socioeconomic issues, racial/ethnic differences and other multiple risk factors.

"Women of color have had a higher incidence of HIV/AIDS diagnosis as compared to their Caucasian counterparts since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in 1981 due to a wide range of interrelated factors," said Grasso. "These risk factors are also responsible for decreasing the efficiency and effectiveness of care they receive, due in part to a less than optimal technology solution at the many HIV/AIDS clinics."

With the adoption of new technologies, the healthcare community faces increasing challenges with regard to security and patient privacy and assembled members of the teams are eager to begin this most important task.

"It stands to reason that delivering a technical solution ahead of schedule would be a major step forward in disseminating best of breed solutions to the masses affordably," said J. Anthony Forstmann, managing partner, Forstmann & Co.

Henry A. Hill, general manager of ION Networks said, "We are pleased the award-winning line of ION™ secure remote management products will be leveraged in this ambitious effort to improve patient care."

"I look forward to being involved in this research, analyzing the related network traffic data from the perspective of optimization and security. Hopefully, this work will translate into better care for these patients," said Brian Moriarty, Director of Stevens Research Computing Information Technology.

"This grant application represents not only a partnership of a vanguard medical organization like Montefiore with Stevens, but the teaming of some extraordinary individuals, as reflected by the roster of participants from both organizations. By dedicating these combined resources to some very deserving objectives, we once again our demonstrating to the Metropolitan NY/NJ Community that Stevens means business in maximizing our technological and educational resources in the pursuit of taking good care of our region's healthcare," said Dr. Don Lombardi, Director of the Stevens Healthcare Educational Partnerships (SHEP).

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Grasso is the executive vice president for Healthcare with LGS Global Ltd., a Hyderabad-based public IT company. He completed his medical training at Des Moines University, his surgical residency at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Manhattan Program, Post Doctoral Fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery within the Department of General and Endoscopic Surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Medical Informatics research and development as a NASA Project Manager within the Yale University NASA Commercial Space Center for Medical Informatics and Technology Applications.

About ION Networks

ION Networks is the most trusted name in remote administrative management and secure access technology. ION appliances and software enable service providers, equipment manufacturers, government and military agencies, and corporations to remotely manage, monitor, and secure critical voice and data networks. With over 60,000 devices deployed worldwide, ION products are currently in use on six continents. For more information, visit www.ion-networks.com or call (908) 546-3900.

About Forstmann & Co.

Forstmann & Co., LLC, is an asset management company that has its roots in forging innovative and successful investment platforms for institutional and professional investors. Our approach is to combine the near-term return potential of liquid investments with the significant longer-term return potential of carefully selected private equity investments. Through our founder, over the past 4 decades we have left an indelible mark on the progress of the financial services industry with Forstmann-Leff, one of the first hedge funds; Forstmann-Little, one of the first leveraged buyout firms; and Instinet, the first electronic trading platform. These landmark achievements that come from being first, along with our team of professionals and business operatives form the backbone of Forstmann & Co and our dedication to offering investors a better money management solution.

About SUN Microsystems

Sun Microsystems Inc., (NASDAQ: JAVA) develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision – "The Network is the Computer" – Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun provides a diversity of software, systems, services, and microelectronics that power everything from consumer electronics, to developer tools and the world's most powerful datacenters. Our core brands include the Java technology platform, Solaris operating system, the MySQL database management system, StorageTek and the UltraSPARC processor. Sun currently employs approximately 33,000 professionals in more than 100 countries with revenue in 2008 exceeding $13 billion.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value. Stevens offers baccalaureates, master's and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens' graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.

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