Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR)

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The principal mission of the Duke Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) is to establish comprehensive infrastructure support to an academic research environment that will effectively promote collaboration and coordination among the community of HIV/AIDS investigators at Duke and throughout the national CFAR network, thereby enhancing both the quality and quantity of their significant contributions and overall impact to the field. In this competitive renewal application, the Duke CFAR builds upon our accomplishments of the previous funding cycle and expands the overall infrastructure and programmatic support to continue to provide cost effective state-of-the-art services and catalyzing collaborative HIV/AIDS research initiatives at Duke. A solid basis is formed by both our highly successful Small Grant mechanism aimed primarily at early stage investigators and our equally successful faculty recruitment efforts. Through an effective Strategic Planning Process, the CFAR leadership has identified seven Specific Aims to guide the CFAR's growth and evolution over the next 5 years. These are: 1) to provide administrative and scientific leadership and continue to build and engage Strategic Partnerships, 2) to provide mentoring and support for innovative HIV/AIDS research through a comprehensive set of mechanisms, including Small Grants, faculty recruitments, and Scientific Working Group activities, 3) to provide access to highly advanced technologies and training through new Core services, 4) to provide highly innovative and proactive biostatistics and computational support, 5) to provide ready access to patient specimens and expanded community outreach, 6) to support interdisciplinary research on social and behavioral determinants of HIV-related outcomes, and 7) to support NIH initiatives and promote inter-CFAR collaborations. The CFAR will expand its efforts to attract underrepresented minorities to HIV/AIDS research through a new partnership with the Duke Office of Biomedical Graduate Diversity. We also will seek to further engage our network of Strategic Partnerships by expanding the Small Grant targeted RFA/co-funding model initiated in the previous funding cycle between the CFAR and Department of Medicine. This expansion, as well as continued support for the newly established CFAR Database and Bio repository and CFAR events, will be enhanced by a significant increase in Institutional Support from Duke's School of Medicine and Department of Surgery. Through our Strategic Planning process, we have identified five priority areas that represent opportunities for innovative research at Duke: 1) AIDS-related Malignancies and Co-Infections, 2) HIV and Aging, 3) Latency and Eradication, 4) Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and HIV Outcomes and 5) HIV Vaccine Design and Evaluation. The CFAR is invigorated by the potential to develop and further explore these opportunities through closer collaborative interactions at Duke and across the CFAR network.