The objective of the UCLA/Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program is to continue to implement an innovative, collaborative research training program that contributes to building the research capacity and training of the collaborating countries. The collaborating countries include China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia. The UCLA/Fogarty AITRP achieves this goal by selecting key teaching and governmental institutions within each of the collaborating countries and building the research capacity of those institutions, primarily through training at the M.S. and Ph.D. levels. It has been our intention to build a critical mass of highly trained individuals within these institutions who can interact with each other to strengthen the quality of their research programs. The UCLA/Fogarty AITRP program includes one and two-week in-country and regional courses on specific topics, such as research ethics and laboratory strategies to support surveillance, three to six-month postdoctoral training at UCLA in HIV/AIDS-related sciences, and academic programs for M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Trainees in the two degree programs are required to conduct the field work for their theses and dissertations in their home country. The topics are selected jointly by the trainee, the UCLA faculty advisor, and the in-country coordinator, and must bear on issues relevant for effective control of HIV/AIDS in their home countries. Graduates are assisted in obtaining funds to initiate research programs in their home country. Since its inception in 1988, the program has graduated 28 M.S. and 28 Ph.D. graduates, and approximately 100 postdoctoral scholars (short-term). The program currently has 12 trainees in the Ph.D. program and six in the M.S. program. Graduates of the UCLA/Fogarty AITRP have published 238 research papers in refereed journals since 2003, and have assumed key positions in academia, Ministries of Health (often as directors of the HIV/AIDS control programs), research institutions in their home countries, and with international organizations such as UNAIDS and the World Health Organization. The UCLA/Fogarty AITRP has significantly influenced policy in the collaborating countries. The UCLA AITRP program for 2008-13 will emphasize prevention/intervention and strategies for identification and management of HIV-infected and AIDS patients.
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