This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Introduction The activities of the Center have been carried out as proposed in our original plan. All of the originally proposed research projects (3) are during their last stages and developmental funding was provided to several pilot projects during the past year. In total there are 9 ongoing or active projects. We will be submitting a proposal for an additional year of partial funding (""""""""bridge"""""""") to allow the Center to continue activities towards renewal or further funding as deemed advisable by the NCRR. We are including a list of 28 scientific publications from the key investigators and faculty involved in the Center. As part of this report we are describing the activities of the Core groups: the Faculty Development and Progress Evaluation Core, the Data Core and DSMB, both Internal and External Advisory Committees and the Laboratory Core. A report on the developmental research projects is included. II.
Specific Aims of the Center At the end of the first funding cycle we completed all of our specific aims for this Center as follows: 1.To establish a Comprehensive Center with the purpose of enhancing the clinical and translational research capabilities in Puerto Rico through a collaborative effort between the three accredited Medical Schools in PR, the UPR School of Public Health and the UPR School of Dentistry to establish a """"""""tradition"""""""" of collaboration The PR-CCHD was successful in establishing and retaining collaborators from the three accredited medical schools in PR plus several other programs adding to a total of six professional schools. The UPR School of Public Health, the UPR School of Dentistry, the Ponce School of Medicine Program of Clinical Psychology, the NOVA Southeastern School of Pharmacy and Iniciativa Comunitaria de Investigacion (ICI-Spanish acronym) were included as part of the collaborators. So, during the first funding cycle, the number of collaborating professional schools increased from the original three to six and one Community Based Organization (CBO). The junior investigators were encouraged to establish inter-institutional partnerships and research teams and this activity was enhanced by the mentoring and infrastructure support provided by the center. This is a unique and innovative Center since it clearly establishes a mechanism for collaborative research that integrates into one central concept the salient activities at each participating institution: a Data Center, a Laboratory and a Clinical Research Center. Although integration and collaboration has been the target of many initiatives, it is through the webbing of resources that true collaborative research was established as a tradition and not as an isolated event. This (tradition or culture of collaboration) will perhaps be one of the biggest and most important long-term accomplishments of this proposal. This tradition of collaboration stared with the lead investigators, but will be cemented by the long-term participation of junior investigators who will initiate their careers with a different paradigm: that successful collaboration can happen even within """"""""competing"""""""" institutions. This will be in the benefit of all involved. 2. To develop sustainable, replicable and culturally appropriate prevention and/or intervention research programs targeted to the Puerto Rican population to decrease the burden of disease. Several prevention interventions were developed as part of the activities of the center, the most salient was the development of the Hispanic/Latino Respect (a risk reduction intervention using the rapid HIV test). 3. To develop and validate a series of culturally appropriate instruments to measure diverse variables such as but not limited to: socio-demographic, HIV risk behaviors, co-morbidities, adherence, stigma, history of violence and abuse;and to make them available to interested investigators and health care providers. Instruments were developed to adequately measure perceived stigma as well as abuse and neglect among populations at-risk for HIV/AIDS. 4. To enhance the opportunities for multidisciplinary research collaborations between the island institutions and those with a more established research programs in the US mainland. Collaborations with NOVA Southeastern University and other programs were initiated. 5. To establish a Mentorship program for junior investigators with resources from both local and abroad (PR and US institutions) and to create the stimulating academic environment that will encourage students and fellows to pursue a career in health disparities research and in particular, HIV/AIDS research. Based on the outcomes and the impact of the training and development activities performed in the last four years, we developed a mentoring/educational framework. An analytic essay/article was published in the American Journal of Public Health. (Rabionet, S, Santiago, L, and Zorrilla, C. 2009, Vol 99, No S1 65-70). In addition to the previously mentioned activities, another partner was included in the research activities: Iniciativa Comunitaria de Investigacion (ICI) is a community-based organization established in 1991 to provide comprehensive primary and secondary prevention and support services to people affected with HIV/AIDS. It originated from the CPCRA (Community Participatory Clinical Research Activities) funded by NIH to bring research activities to the community. ICI serves the general population with special attention to marginalized groups such as, homeless, drug addicts, and women who engage in commercial sex worker (sex for drugs/money).
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