We propose the renewal of the Training Program, Behavioral Sciences Research in HIV Infection, at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies in the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, to provide innovative postdoctoral training in sexuality, gender, and mental health research applied to HIV. While maintaining our goal of training scholars to collaborate across disciplines in independent research careers in which they address the challenges posed by the evolving HIV/AIDS epidemic, we will expand the Program to include attention to biomedical aspects of HIV/AIDs as well as implementation science research. With its theoretical rigor, methodological innovation, and practical application, our training addresses the complex psychological, social, and public health dilemmas posed by the epidemic and builds upon biomedical developments in HIV prevention and treatment. Our Program employs three complementary and mutually reinforcing learning strategies. (1) Fellows engage in research mentored by experienced senior investigators. (2) Fellows receive instruction in substantive issues, including the intersection of sexuality, gender, and mental health, and fundamentals of medicine, epidemiology, biostatistics, and health promotion related to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care. (3) Fellows receive training in critical academic and professional skills that will enable them to excel as competitive researchers with extramural grant support from NIH as well as other PHS and private funders. This Training Program builds on 25 years of success in training postdoctoral research Fellows. Our proven focus on intensive training in HIV/AIDS prevention science research with coursework in public health is maintained in this proposal. We propose two main innovations: (1) a Bioethics Certificate Program, based at Columbia University, which will meet the ethical and research challenges posed by the increasing complexity of HIV prevention and AIDS treatment strategies; and (2) excursions and externships, which will expose Fellows to diverse HIV-related research disciplines and fields of practice at several prime New York-based programs; from these excursions will emerge Externships comprising collaborative projects with researchers or professionals outside the HIV Center, e.g., for participation in field research, secondary data analysis, and/or paper writing. I addition to these innovations, we propose various other adaptations, including a broadening of the content of the HIV Sciences Seminar to promote literacy in biomedical HIV/AIDS research. In the next five years, we propose to maintain a cohort of seven Fellows, each with a three-year appointment and with new appointments made as Fellows graduate. Our Program will continue to be enriched by the numerous educational resources and training opportunities offered throughout the Columbia University Medical Center and New York City. As illustrated by the successful careers of many of our graduates, the Program has a major impact on HIV/AIDS research and HIV/AIDS-related prevention, treatment and care.
Reaching the goal of an AIDS-free generation - a goal that seems in reach due to a series of recent scientific breakthroughs - requires significant commitment of resources and effort, including further biomedical and behavioral research, and an adequately trained workforce. This workforce is dependent on a continual infusion of behavioral science scholars, literate in biomedical research and capable of working across disciplines. By providing postdoctoral research training opportunities, our Program will contribute to the development of the next generation of outstanding behavioral sciences HIV/AIDS researchers, capable of addressing the challenges and opportunities that the evolving HIV/AIDS pandemic poses.
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