DC CFAR Colleagues - Greetings - we hope you had a safe and restful Thanksgiving holiday. With World AIDS Day approaching this week, it is an appropriate time to reflect on our continued fight against the HIV epidemic and the current context in which we are working.
We are reminded daily of the numerous challenges that we face on our planet and in our nation. Climate change. War. Social inequality and injustice. Mass shootings. Political polarization. Infectious diseases - COVID-19, Influenza, RSV, Mpox, Ebola, Polio. The list is long and seems to grow each month and consequently we are often asked - are you still working on HIV? And the answer is an emphatic yes - though many of us are also working hard on other issues as well.
Despite the tremendous advances that have been made in the HIV field, notably the development and global distribution of antiretrovirals for HIV treatment and prevention, it is important to remember that there is still no cure or vaccine for HIV; that the number of persons with new HIV infections each year is >1.5 million globally, >35,000 nationally and several hundred locally here in DC; there remain profound disparities in access to antiretrovirals for HIV therapy and prevention; and stigmatization, marginalization and violence towards key populations continues. Thus, we persevere in our efforts as a CFAR to contribute to the fight against HIV in DC and beyond.
And we are very proud of what the DC CFAR has been able to achieve in 2022:
- the CFAR now has 266 investigator members at nine collaborating DC-based institutions – American University, Children's National, DC Health, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Whitman-Walker and Us Helping Us - which joined the DC CFAR this fall led by Dr. DeMarc Hickson;
- the Community Partnership Council remains engaged in virtually all DC CFAR activities, led by CPC Chair and Community Coordinator Mr. George Kerr;
- the CFAR welcomed into new roles Dr. Manya Magnus as Co-Director, Ms. Brandi Robinson as Administrative Director, and Ms. Lorena Segarra as Senior Research Program Manager;
- the amount of annual NIH funding for HIV research in DC has more than doubled from $11.6M at our inception in 2015 to $25.7M in 2021;
- DC CFAR investigators received $1.8M in administrative supplements from NIH in the past year;
- there have been 13 new NIH awards to DC CFAR investigators thus far in 2022 through the R25, R21, R01, T32, U01, UG3 and C06 mechanisms;
- DC CFAR investigators secured three new HIV-specific T32 training grants this past year;
- the Developmental Core has coordinated programs for traditional pilot awards, academic-community partnership awards, and rapid response awards on the interface between HIV and Mpox;
- the Basic Science, Clinical and Population Science and Social and Behavioral Science Cores continue to provide numerous services and training opportunities for CFAR investigators;
- the HIV Cure and the Ending the HIV Epidemic Scientific Working Groups (SWGs) have supported successful HIV grant and supplemental applications to the NIH;
- the CFAR launched and supported six Scientific Interest Groups (SIGs) in Drug User Health, HIV and Women, Sexual and Gender Minorities, Latina/o/x, Aging and Comorbidities, and Global HIV;
- and the CFAR helped coordinate important national, regional and local diversity training initiatives including the CFAR Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Pathway Initiative (CDEIPI), ADELANTE with the Emory CFAR, and the MACC Scholars Program with the Johns Hopkins and Penn CFARs.
The DC CFAR will also be highly active in 2023 as we continue to strive toward ending the HIV epidemic in DC and beyond. We will resume selected CFAR events in person or in a hybrid format; there are multiple pilot award program cycles in progress and planned; the Cores and SWG/SIGs are planning numerous HIV seminars, trainings, and events; and the CFAR will promote and support a myriad of NIH grant and supplemental funding opportunities.
On this World AIDS Day, we continue to stand in solidarity with persons and communities impacted by HIV. We recommit ourselves and our CFAR to contributing our best efforts to combating HIV and the many concurrent challenges that together define and bind us. Below please find a list of World AIDS Day events that you are encouraged to participate in either in person or online.
Wishing you a productive World AIDS Day and a healthy and happy holiday season. Regards, Alan Greenberg for the DC CFAR Executive Committee
