In Mexico, like in most of the world, AIDS has become a complex challenge that transcends the usual focus of healthcare. With many behavioral, social, ethical, economic, and political dimensions, research about HIV/AIDS requires a multidisciplinary approach. With the strong international focus on AIDS in Africa, it is easy to forget that one-third of people living with HIV are in countries, such as Mexico, that do not yet have generalized epidemics. There are compelling reasons to test interventions and carry out further research in countries such as these since there may be great benefits from applying the lessons learned in other countries. Mexico is one of the best possible places to base an integrated HIV/AIDS research program of prevention and care because there is well characterized HIV/AIDS epidemic and a substantial track record of research in a variety of areas dealing with the epidemic over the past 15 years. There is also emerging evidence that the demographic and population dynamics of Mexico, as well as the proximity and migration to the US, may mean a substantial number of people are at risk of becoming infected with HIV in the next 5-10 years. In addition to this critical health situation, there exists a strong and knowledgeable infrastructure of public health, clinical and laboratory science professionals. There is also a coordinated network of health facilities, comprised of several federal and local government health institutions, non-profit organizations, and research facilities, all of which help to ensure that only the highest quality research is conducted. We are applying for this RO3 to support the preparation of a PO1 grant proposal for an integrated """"""""Program of research on the prevention of and care for HIV/AIDS in Mexico"""""""". Although coordinated by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), the proposed research plan will include the National AIDS Program (CENSIDA) as well as several of the other National Institutes of Health in Mexico, the National Institute of Medical Science and Nutrition (INCMNCZ), the National Cancer Institute (INCAN) and the National Respiratory Disease Institute (INER). The proposal will also link closely with certain US institutions, including the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at San Francisco, and Emory University. The specific goals of the proposal are to organize a coordinated and multi-disciplinary AIDS research group in Mexico and an international advisory board, and develop a coordinated AIDS research plan with this group. We then plan to prepare a PO1 grant for the next level of CIPRA support.
