The Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
The Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) is a joint research effort between Brown University/Lifespan and Boston University/Boston Medical Center. We are poised to build on our significant research advances that underscore our mission. The Providence/Boston Center for AIDS research is devoted to the pursuit of translational research to reduce the burden of HIV infection worldwide, with special focus on substance users, women, men who have sex with men (MSM), justice-involved persons, and at-risk youth. To achieve this goal, we are committed to fostering emerging HIV investigators both domestically and within resource-limited settings.
CFAR Research Areas
The Providence/Boston CFAR consists of six separate cores and all CFAR members are eligible to utilize core services.
- The Administrative Core provides the administrative infrastructure necessary for the success of the CFAR, establishes and maintains communication channels between the other cores, provides financial and grant management of the CFAR, and coordinates the strategic planning process.
- The Developmental Core provides developmental awards through a peer-review process in order to encourage new research and attract new investigators to HIV/AIDS research, as well as provide mentoring opportunities to junior faculty members.
- The Biobehavioral Sciences Core (BBSC) supports innovative, integrated medical/behavioral research to improve the HIV treatment cascade and HIV prevention among vulnerable populations including justice-involved individuals, women, youth, and persons living in hyperepidemic resource-limited settings.
- The Biostatistics Core ensures that all research undertaken by CFAR investigators uses optimal methods for study design and analysis; to develop innovative new approaches that address existing gaps in methodology; to expand the number of quantitative researchers engaging in HIV research; and to ensure, through collaboration, training and mentoring, that CFAR researchers have a strong base of knowledge about principles related to study design, data analysis, and interpretation.
- The Basic Sciences Core builds and supports collaborative research and synergy between basic, translational clinical and behavioral investigators as well as other multidisciplinary scientists, by providing laboratory, consultation and mentoring services.
- The Substance Use Research Core (SURC) supports the development of basic, clinical, and translational research that addresses the impact of substance use (SU) on the HIV epidemic.