NRSA Postdoctoral Training Program in HIV Prevention

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This competing continuation application requests renewed support for the National Research Service Award postdoctoral fellowship training program in HIV prevention behavioral research at the Center for AIDS Intervention Research (CAIR), Medical College of Wisconsin. CAIR's postdoctoral fellowship program was established in 1997 and has enrolled 7 fellows, 4 of whom have graduated. Past fellows have been highly productive and all graduates are now employed in HIV or health-related research positions in academia or federal governmental agencies. During the renewal period, the 2-year training program will accept two new fellows each year. The HIV prevention research training program prepares postdoctoral fellows to become productive independent researchers, with a curriculum that includes coursework; seminars in HIV behavioral research, ethics, and HIV foundation areas; and active participation in multiple research studies. Each fellow is paired with a primary research preceptor who provides guidance on all aspects of behavioral HIV prevention research, scholarly activities, and professional conduct. Secondary preceptors and informal mentorship relationships between faculty and fellows are also actively encouraged. The HIV prevention research training program emphasizes "hands on" involvement in ongoing research projects at CAIR, as well as fellow-initiated research. The centerpiece of the CAIR postdoctoral research training program is the completion of the fellows' own independent research project, which is designed, implemented, analyzed, and written up for publication by the trainee, under the guidance of his or her primary research preceptor, and with the support of CAIR's research support cores. Fellows also are integrated into ongoing studies directed by their preceptors and/or other CAIR faculty. The wide variety of projects currently being undertaken at our multidisciplinary research center includes studies of individual, small-group, and community-level HIV prevention trials with women, gay men, the severely mentally ill, adolescents, and other at-risk populations; secondary prevention interventions focusing on improving treatment compliance and coping, and reducing HIV transmission risk behaviors; international studies of HIV prevention strategies for Eastern Europe and developing nations; "technology transfer" to facilitate community-based implementation of interventions shown to be effective in controlled research trials; methodological studies to improve assessment of sensitive behaviors; and cost-effectiveness, economic, and policy analyses of primary and secondary HIV prevention interventions. The fellow's active participation in multiple research projects is supplemented by formal coursework and seminars, including CAIR's HIV Prevention Foundations Course and available courses at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin.