The overall aim of the Developmental Core is to attract new investigators and to foster novel pilot studies and approaches to neuroAIDS questions, based on sophisticated hypotheses and methods, as well as quality pilot data, requisite to the development of project proposals that are sufficiently competitive to secure extramural funding. In the current funding cycle, through its Developmental Grants program, the Developmental Core has awarded 16 developmental grants, all encompassing promising new directions in neuroAIDS research, to students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior and senior faculty, including an international fellow from Brazil. In addition, 16 junior researchers have received support through the Mentored Investigator Program, and 74 trainees of various levels have rotated through labs of the HNRC associated investigators. This seed funding has so far produced 12 investigator-initiated peer review proposals, 7 of which have been funded to date. Trainees working with the HNRC investigators have co-authored 83 original project publications (and an additional 7 in submission);7 book chapters, and 67 conference presentations.
Our aims for the renewal are to augment synergistically the capacity and effectiveness of the Developmental Grants and Mentored Investigator Programs via (1) crossover activities with the newly proposed International Core, designed for mentoring international investigators and enhancing the potential for extramural support of innovative international research or projects;and (2), submission of an NIH T32 training program for pre- and postdoctoral neuroAIDS researchers at the HNRC and its affiliate laboratories, aimed toward attracting top-notch trainees (in particular, underrepresented minorities) and promoting careers in the neurobehavioral and neuromedical sciences. With its multidisciplinary research environment, talented and productive research staff, highly organized and integrated infrastructure, and rich longitudinal specimen and data banks, the HNRC is well-positioned to develop and support expanded opportunities for innovative research by fostering preliminary studies and mentoring of trainees from a wide array of disciplines.
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