We propose to continue our training program in HIV prevention at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in order to develop social, behavioral, and physician scientists with a multi-disciplinary approach to control of the HIV epidemic. We will focus our program, called Traineeships in AIDS Prevention Studies (TAPS), on training future researchers to address three fronts: 1) the development of evidence-based international biomedical and behavioral HIV/AIDS prevention interventions;2) the elimination of prevention and care disparities in the US, and 3) the combining of methods for biological and behavioral interventions. TAPS is well positioned to address the challenges of HIV prevention with an international perspective, a focus on domestic disparities, and a multidisciplinary approach. Trainees include physicians and social/behavioral scientists. They compete a master's of public health, clinical research, or global health sciences if they do not already have an equivalent degree;take a course in research methods and in the ethical conduct of research;participate in weekly TAPS seminars;participate in peer reviews;teach; complete at least one significant research project- write at least one grant proposal;and submit several papers for publication. Our first nineteen years has produced an excellent record of accomplishments in research, public health and teaching by past trainees. Since 1989 the TAPS program has trained 90 postdoctoral fellows, including 20 from underrepresented minorities, of whom 88 are in the program or have gone on to excellent positions in academic institutions and departments of public health. The overall productivity record of the program is outstanding, with 623 publications and 274 funded research projects in the past 10 years. Renewal will permit us to continue 12fellows in the program, 4 to 5 new fellows per year. The program is housed at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), in partnership with the Institute for Global Health (IGH) and within UCSF's AIDS Research Institute, an extremely productive research environment. CAPS provides trainees with space, a computer network, regularly scheduled lectures, seminars, and peer reviews, and access to a wide range of researchers from different disciplines.
There are an estimated 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. The goal of this program is to help train scientists from diverse fields of inquiry and backgrounds so that they will develop social/behavioral and biomedical HIV/AIDS prevention approaches that will effectively address what many consider to be the defining health challenge of our era.;
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