The Clinical Core of the FHI/RTI/UNC CFAR is led by Dr. Joseph Eron, Director, Dr. Prema Menezes, co-Director, and Dr. Sonia Napravnik, Core Epidemiologist, who also leads the UNC CFAR HIV Clinical Cohort (UCHCC). The goals of the Clinical Core are 1) to enhance the clinical, translational and epidemiological research capacity of a diverse array CFAR investigators by providing essential services such as subject recruitment, sample access and regulatory assistance, study design and management, study coordinator services and unique resources such as access to a detailed clinical cohort with links to larger cohorts and specimen and tissue repositories coupled with state-of-the-art epidemiological expertise and 2) to provide leadership and foster collaboration in high priority research areas and provide mentorship to students and faculty and educational opportunities to the wider community. The Core includes a dedicated staff of over 15 individuals with the needed skills to accomplish these goals. The Core is housed centrally on the UNC Health Affairs campus and is easily accessible to investigators either because of close proximity or because the leadership and several of our services are readily available electronically facilitating interactions with FHl, RTI and international investigators. The Core supports research from molecular to geographic (even combining the extremes) using methods ranging from patient oriented qualitative work to complex epidemiological modeling. Over the past four years the Core served over 100 investigators on over 150 projects supported by the NIH, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) and CDC among others. The Core supports multiple CFARiCFAR research projects and NIH-sponsored HIV networks while having a strong mentoring presence. The Core also provides data, leadership and investigator access to two large HIV-focused collaborative cohorts. The Clinical Core is essential for the continued success of the UNC/FHI/RTI CFAR as the services and research opportunities provided by the Core and the UCHCC have proved invaluable to investigators and are not duplicated by other Cores or facilities on the UNC, FHl or RTI campuses.
The Clinical Core of the UNC/FHI/RTI CFAR will facilitate laboratory, clinical and population-based research on HIV pathogenesis, transmission, treatment and prevention by providing CFAR investigators access to individuals and populations infected with or at risk for HIV. We will mentor students and junior investigators in HIV research. Our goal is to improve the health of HIV-infected patients and limit the spread of HIV.
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