Training in HIV Persistence, Co-morbidities and Therapeutics

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HIV/AIDS once constituted a lethal diagnosis that ravaged many communities and has now become for some a chronic disease with associated co-morbidities. Likewise, our historic research successes in deciphering the mechanisms of fundamental HIV pathogenesis must now be directed to new questions about HIV elimination, vaccines and therapeutic development, and efforts to treat and prevent subsequent disorders among people surviving the disease. Researchers focused on these questions, with specific skillsets and knowledge, attractive to multiple career paths, are needed to address these emerging challenges in HIV/AIDS disease. The overall goal of this T32 is to prepare doctoral students with the knowledge, methodologic, analytic and leadership skills to become successful future HIV research investigators. To achieve these goals, we will (A) Provide intensive didactic education in HIV/AIDS research. A new required course in HIV Persistence will be offered to complement a core didactic research curriculum. Research in progress will be shared among trainees and experts at an annual retreat, and a catalog of elective courses will round out opportunities to build HIV knowledge in three major emphasis areas: (i) cure research, including T-cell therapy and the reversal of viral latency; (ii) co- morbidities, including malignancies and CNS disease; and (iii) prevention research, including vaccines and novel therapeutics; (B) Recruit two outstanding doctoral students per year for 2 years of support with activities to accelerate their progression to independence. Each trainee will have an individualized project characterized by a) multiple-mentor teams to aid in the design and implementation of hypothesis-driven research projects, b) a curriculum to build HIV specific knowledge and research skill sets, c) professional development including presentation skills and grant-writing d) strong exposure including participation in group-based externship opportunities in multiple career paths for HIV scientists, and strong programmatic oversight; and (C) Cultivate a local infrastructure and multi-departmental culture of collaboration to support HIV research training. This application joins faculty from multiple GW departments and schools, as well as the District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR) to introduce new perspectives and fresh ideas that will collectively offer outstanding collaborative training in cross-cutting high priority areas of HIV research. Enhanced cross-school and regional investigator orientation and networks, and research progress reports and meetings are intrinsic to this plan. New approaches to enhance mentor development will be expanded and institutionalized to strengthen faculty mentoring practices in effective autonomy-supportive mentoring.