ERC Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY Center for AIDS research

PROJECT SUMMARY ERC-CFAR: OVERALL As the HIV research community and public health systems implement the vision of Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE), Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) play a crucial role leading the trans-institutional and interdisciplinary research efforts needed to achieve this goal. We successfully filled a vacuum in New York City, a continuing epicenter of HIV infection previously lacking a CFAR, by creating the Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY CFAR (ERC- CFAR). The ERC-CFAR brings together and synergizes the complementary expertise and resources of researchers from a strong basic and clinical research institution linked to a health system which treats >6,200 people with HIV, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Einstein); a globally pre-eminent basic science institution, Rockefeller University (Rockefeller); and a strong public health/implementation science institution, CUNY School of Public Health/Hunter College (CUNY), while establishing linkages to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Our vision is for the ERC-CFAR to serve as a catalyst to create innovation and contribute to EHE by breaking down institutional and disciplinary silos in our complementary basic, translational, clinical, epidemiologic, behavioral, and implementation research programs to accelerate development of new therapies, assess and overcome barriers to acceptability, uptake, and adherence, and prevent and cure HIV infections. The success of the ERC-CFAR Cores, SWGs, and infrastructure in amplifying the research productivity of our three institutions is illustrated by a >30% increase in our OAR FRB from ~$34 million in FY15 to ~$44.6 million in FY20 and the publication of >1,250 papers by ERC-CFAR investigators. Our ESIs obtained ~$20 million of external grant funding, including ~$7.5 million in NIH grants catalyzed by ~$500K we awarded for 14 pilot grants, a >16-fold return on investment. We also integrated the concerns of our community members, including PWH, into our strategic planning process by organizing a novel, highly trans-institutional and interdisciplinary Scientific Working Group (SWG), with greater than 30 members focused on our community’s priority research area, HIV and Mental Health. In this renewal, we propose to build on our accomplishments to further catalyze research to end the epidemic through these Specific Aims: 1) To assemble transinstitutional, interdisciplinary, community-inclusive ERC-CFAR research teams to develop and implement new strategies to reduce HIV transmission, improve prevention and treatment, promote sustained viral suppression, and eradicate HIV reservoirs; 2) To increase the impact of our research through the cutting-edge services of our Biomarkers and Advanced Technologies Core, Behavioral and Implementation Science Core, and Clinical and Translational Science Core; 3) To mentor the next generation of HIV investigators, recruit established non-HIV investigators into HIV research, and forge new collaborations across Einstein, Rockefeller, and CUNY, other NIH-funded centers, regional academic centers, our public health departments, and community partners to support an innovative EHE agenda through the Developmental Core and current HIV & Mental Health and future SWGs.