Training the next generation of HIV prevention scientists, skilled in the methods of multiple fields, and increasing the number of under-represented minority researchers are the long-term goals of the postdoctoral Traineeship in AIDS Prevention Studies (TAPS) at UCSF. Our goals are to build the skills of postdoctoral fellows to engage in research that: 1) combines biomedical, behavioral, social and structural interventions to maximize impact, 2) eliminates racial/ethnic disparities in HIV in the US, and 3) develops novel prevention interventions. TAPS balances the behavioral and biomedical sides of prevention by training scientists newly minted in their respective fields in the disciplines of their co-postdoctoral fellows. TAPS is housed in UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), with close relationships to other institutions within the AIDS Research Institute (ARI) umbrella. The program requires one-on-one mentorship with senior faculty; a master's degree in clinical or public health research; advanced courses in research methods and ethics; seminars and grand rounds; peer review and teaching; designing, grant writing, and implementing research projects; and submission of papers for publication. Since inception, TAPS has trained 126 fellow. Our recruitment has more than doubled from a cumulative proportion of 22% URM in 2003-2007 to 50% for the last ten year period. We also achieved 100% retention of URM in research. Alumni in the last 10 years produced 495 publications, including 223 (45%) as first author, mean=10.8 papers/trainee. In addition, they were awarded 129 research grants, 79 (61%) they served as Principal Investigator (PI). Five-year renewal of TAPS will permit training of 1 - 3 new fellows per year who we envision will be poised to administer the coup de grace to the AIDS epidemic and carry on to address major future health issues in the US and worldwide.
The goals of our postdoctoral training program (Traineeship in AIDS Prevention Studies, or TAPS) are to train the next generation of HIV prevention scientists who will be skilled in diverse research methods, and to increase the number of ethnic/racial minority researchers; and thus we seek to build the skills of postdoctoral fellows to engage in research that combines biomedical, behavioral, social and structural interventions to have the biggest impact on the HIV epidemic and to train more ethnic/racial minority scientists. TAPS balances social/behavioral and biomedical sides of prevention, and is housed in UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), with close relationships to other institutions working in HIV prevention. Since the start of TAPS, we have trained 126 fellows who have become leaders in the field and this five-year renewal will permit training of 2-3 new fellows per year, for a total of 7 in the program.
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