Johns Hopkins Establishes New Center for AIDS Research
May 4, 2012 - Johns Hopkins University has been awarded $15 million over the next five years from the
National Institutes of Health to establish the new Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). CFAR will support more than 180 HIV investigators
from the University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Medicine,
the School of Nursing and other schools. A major priority for CFAR will be to address
Baltimore's HIV epidemic in addition to training new investigators and conducting international research.
"HIV/AIDS is a major threat to global health and urban America, particularly here in Baltimore," said Richard Chaisson,
MD, lead investigator of CFAR and professor with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"While we've made great improvements in HIV treatment and prevention, much more needs to be done to control the pandemic.
CFAR will mobilize the substantial scientific, clinical and public health resources at Johns Hopkins to generate the
knowledge necessary to tackle the HIV pandemic."
CFAR will comprise of six core initiatives and three scientific working groups to promote collaboration and synergy across
the Johns Hopkins HIV research community. These areas will include an administrative core to manage overall activities, a developmental
core to support pilot research grants, mentoring and recruitment, a clinical core to focus on co-infections such as tuberculosis and
co-morbidities such as cardiovascular disease, a prevention core focusing on comprehensive approaches to prevention research, a
biostatistics and epidemiology methods core, and a laboratory core to facilitate access to laboratory services and to provide
methods training. The three scientific working groups will promote new collaborations to address issues related to substance
abuse, bioethics and human rights, and eradication of HIV. The Baltimore HIV group and international group will support
research and collaboration.
Johns Hopkins Provost Lloyd Minor and the deans of the Bloomberg School, the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing
have all pledged additional support to fund pilot research grants and the Baltimore HIV control efforts. The fund will support new
investigators, particularly in recruiting and retaining minority investigators in HIV research.
"CFAR represents a major commitment toward promoting excellence, productivity and growth of HIV research and control efforts
at Johns Hopkins, in Baltimore and globally," said CFAR Co-director Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH , professor
with the Bloomberg School of Public Health and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health .
###
Media contact:
Tim Parsons, director of Public Affairs,
at 410-955-7619
or tmparson@jhsph.edu .
SOURCE:Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
"Reproduced with permission - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health"
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
|
