The mission of the Developmental Core is to stimulate and support new HIV/AIDS research at University of Rochester (UR). This mission will be achieved by: catalyzing new collaborative lines of investigation;facilitating recruitment of new HIV/AIDS researchers;creating a stimulating intellectual and scientific environment;promoting the mentoring and training of junior faculty;helping to support international collaborations with partners in South Africa;and providing a mechanism whereby faculty who do not presently work on HIV/AIDS can be successfully """"""""recruited"""""""" to work on this problem. The Core will leverage structures created for the UR's Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). These include highly effective pilot grant award mechanisms, novel mentoring programs and career development workshops. Five interconnected aims will be pursued.
Aim 1 is to catalyze new multidisciplinary research on HIV/AIDS. This will be achieved by funding pilot awards that support new collaborative efforts in strategically selected """"""""areas of opportunity"""""""" (prevention/behavior, Optics and Nanomedicine, and international collaborations). Support will also be provided for generation of enabling preliminary data for new grant applications and travelling fellowships.
Aim 2 will focus on recruiting new HIV/AIDS investigators. This will be achieved by providing Mentored Investigator Awards patterned on the KO8 mechanism, with the use of experienced mentoring teams to assist young faculty, and by supporting new faculty recruitment.
The third Aim will support mentoring and career development of young HIV/AIDS investigators. This will use the structured mentoring program developed for the UR CTSI. Mentoring partnerships will be supervised by a Mentoring Committee of senior D-CFAR investigators with extensive mentoring experience. A grant facilitation service will also be initiated to provide (i) a forum for discussion and refinement of grant ideas at an early stage and (ii) expert advice and input on written materials, with prompt turn-around.
Aim 4 will create a stimulating intellectual and scientific environment, through new seminar programs including a """"""""Multi-Disciplinary DCFAR"""""""" seminar, and a """"""""HIV/AIDS Research-in-Progress"""""""" (HRIP) seminar;industry collaboration will also be supported. Finally, the fifth aim will focus on international collaborations. Short-term instruction in biostatistics and HIV/AIDS clinical trial design will be provided for international partners in South Africa. In addition, a forum will be created in which UR trainees will work with datasets and research materials from our partners in South Africa, in a mutually beneficial research collaboration. Overall, these activities are expected to strongly enhance the HIV/AIDS research environment at UR.
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