During the past budget period, the Birmingham CFAR has played a major role in the development of new programmatic areas both in basic and clinical AIDS research at UAB. This was accomplished by fostering in-house AIDS research through competitive Development Grant Program and by recruitment of high caliber AIDS scientists from other institutions. Through these efforts, a considerable number of new research programs was initiated, the great majority of which have gone one to become competitive at a national level. Development Grant Program: Developmental moneys ($246,500) were used to competitively fund 8 New Investigators, 5 Pilot Projects, and one Interdisciplinary Program. This were selected from a total of 44 applications submitted to the CFAR Developmental Grant Program. Applications were prepared according to NIH guidelines, reviewed by an internal review committee, and funded solely based on scientific merit. Of the 14 competitive applications, 12 were subsequently submitted to national funding agencies, and 8 received extramural funding with total Direct Costs exceeding $13 million (3 applications are still pending review). Of the 30 non-funded proposals, 15 were submitted to alternative funding agencies, and four of these received extramural funds exceeding $800,000. The Developmental grant program has thus been extremely successful in facilitating new as well as nationally competitive research efforts. Recruitment: Developmental moneys ($95,000) were used to assist in the recruitment of Dr. Sten Vermund (Epidemiology and International Research) from NIAID at the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Grace Aldrovandi (HIV Pathogenesis and Pediatric Experimental Therapeutics) from UCLA. In addition, the AIDS Center played a critical role in the recruitment of Drs. Laura Leviton and Ralph DiClemente (HIV Prevention Sciences/Behavioral Sciences) from the University of Pittsburgh and UCSF, respectively. As a result of these recruitments and additional resource commitments from Institutional sources, the Prevention/Behavioral Sciences Program has recruited an additional four faculty (Drs. Clark, Grimley, Pulley, and Wingood) and the Epidemiology Program has recruited two additional Faculty (Drs. Allen and Kaslow). Each of these individuals greatly enhanced the scope and capabilities of these new Research Programs. Dr. Aldrovandi has brought critical translational capabilities to our Pediatric AIDS program and the newly funded PACTU. To continue these developmental efforts, funds are requested for New Investigator Awards, Pilot Projects, and New Emerging Research Opportunities at the level of $100,000 as well as one Inter-disciplinary program at a level of $50,000. These applications will be solicited, reviewed and funded as in the past. In additional, recruitment moneys in the amount $30,000 are requested to continue to attract outstanding outside investigators to the AIDS effort. These recruitment moneys will be matched one-to-one with state funds available to the Center.
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