Wednesday, August 10, 2022
8/10/2022
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Boston University Clinical HIV/AIDS Research Training (BU-CHART) program prepares outstanding M.D and Ph.D. trainees for careers as scientific leaders in HIV/AIDS research, with a focus on research in disadvantaged and underserved populations. BU-CHART focuses its training plan on four high-priority HIV research fields that address the substantial challenges that remain to ending the HIV epidemic: 1) substance use and HIV - a syndemic of substance use disorders and HIV infection fuels HIV outbreaks in the U.S., Eastern Europe, and Asia. 2) Tuberculosis and HCV co-infection - comorbidities, including Tuberculosis and Hepatitis C Virus are leading causes of death among HIV-infected people; 3) HIV transmission and establishment of latency - HIV incidence remains stubbornly elevated, and early establishment of HIV latency remains a frustrating puzzle that limits progress to finding HIV cure; 4) HIV treatment and the accelerated aging process - we still seek safe and effective interventions to reduce the inappropriate immune activation that accompanies HIV infection and leads to end-organ disease. The training facilities include state-of-the-art research space at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health and Boston Medical Center, the largest Safety-net hospital in New England. BU-CHART synergizes with existing training programs on campus, including the BU Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), the Providence-Boston Center for AIDS Research, and other T32- and R25-funded training programs on the BUMC campus. We pair our outstanding trainees with BU-CHART faculty mentors who are established investigators with NIH-funded research projects and experience mentoring. We provide a thoughtfully constructed training plan in scientific reasoning and experimental design, professional development, and the ethical conduct of human research. The result is a track record of training success. In the past 15 years, BU-CHART trained 26 MD and PhD post-doctoral fellows, of whom 20 (77%) remain in in academic positions focused on HIV research. Among the 7 trainees who completed the program in the current grant cycle, 6 now have academic research positions, 3 have already obtained career development awards, and 2 have career development awards currently under review.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
