UAB Center for AIDS Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The mission of the UAB CFAR is to support UAB investigators in the conduct of multidisciplinary, cutting edge research in the prevention, pathogenesis, therapeutics, clinical care, and psychosocial manifestations of HIV and related disorders in the community, within the US and around the world. For 25 years, the Center has played a vital role in supporting research activities of its members that have led to paradigm-shifting discoveries, including: the discovery of HIV-1 quasi-species diversity, detection of HIV-1 RNA in plasma, viral dynamics in acute and chronic infection, first-in-human phase 1 clinical studies of 7 currently approved therapies, the zoonotic origins of HIV-1, and the direct use of outcomes research data to inform clinical practice. Strategic planning activities have focused our scientific agenda over the next 5 years to address: HIV pathogeneses, the natural history of HIV in the treatment era, drug discovery, and prevention. The objectives of the CFAR reflect this modern agenda and further our commitment to innovative, multidisciplinary AIDS research, including: 1. Provision of a central institutional focus for HIV/AIDS research activities that emphasize effective communication and collaboration among CFAR members and the wider HIV/AIDS research community. 2. Enhancement of productivity of ongoing research programs by encouraging interdisciplinary research and by providing critical shared resource facilities and administrative and fiscal management support to Center investigators. 3. Use of robust strategic planning methods to identify new research opportunities and priorities that align with existing CFAR programs and foster new research programs where none are in existence but where faculty interest and University capacity is evident. 4. To stimulate the entry of junior and established faculty into HIV/AIDS research programs through mentoring programs for young investigators and by a peer-reviewed Developmental Grants Program. 5. To stimulate faculty recruitment and program development in areas that reflect the ongoing evolution of HIV/AIDS research in Alabama, the United States, and around the world. The success of the UAB CFAR in stimulating HIV/AIDS research is reflected in the growth in extramural funding from $6.0 million in 1988 to over $86 million currently, in the recruitment of more than 24 HIV/AIDS investigators since 2009, high profile publications, and in the garnering of outstanding Institutional support. .