The Boston University Clinical HIV/AIDS Research Training (BU-CHART) Program provides rigorous postgraduate training to physicians and other health scientists to enable them to conduct high-quality, ethical HIV/AIDS research focused on disadvantaged populations. BU-CHART will provide specific training in research methods of relevance to study co-morbidities, adherence, substance abuse and transmission of HIV infection. A particular focus will be training in research ethics, a particular strength of Boston University. The Program Site is Boston University Medical Center (BUMC), comprised of the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), and Boston Medical Center (BMC), the ?safety net hospital for the city of Boston. The program also has well-established field sites in South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia. BUMC investigators have a strong record of sponsored research in HIV epidemiology, HIV/hepatitis C co-infection, HIV and alcohol abuse, adherence, prevention, international HIV research, and HIV interactions with tuberculosis. The BU-CHART Program Director, Dr. Robert Horsburgh, has been the Director or Co- director of the program since its inception in 2003. BU-CHART will be administratively based in the Section of Infectious Diseases (ID), Department of Medicine, BUSM. One Global and three Domestic trainees each year will enter a structured program that includes an introductory series of didactic lectures in HIV/AIDS, classroom work and a mentored thesis leading to the MSc or PhD degree in Epidemiology, ethics coursework and mentoring and a series of Clinical Research seminars as part of the Boston University CREST Program. Each trainee will have a mentoring team comprised of a Senior Mentor, a Project-specific Mentor, and an Ethical Mentor. The candidate?s research will focus on one of four specific subject areas where BU has particular strengths: Opportunistic Diseases, Adherence and Natural History, Substance Use and Transmission. The primary goal of BU-CHART is to enable trainees to become independent investigators in HIV/AIDS research with a special focus and expertise in research in disadvantaged populations.
The BU-CHART program will train physicians, basic scientists and PhD candidates to answer important questions about HIV infection through clinical and translational studies to determine how to improve people's health through prevention and treatment. BU-CHART will train the next generation of HIV researchers, through interactions with skilled physicians and health professionals who currently conduct these studies, to meet the future challenges of HIV infection of men, women, and children.
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