For the past two years, NIH has supported the development of the CFAR ECHPP Working Group (CEWG) to help address the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The CEWG is an inter-CFAR collaboration of the CFARs located in the nine cities with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. An initial CFAR administrative supplement (ECHPP-1) was awarded in September 2011 that supported the nine CFARs to establish collaborative scientific relationships with their local Departments of Heealth and to develop formative projects targetting the specific HIV prevention interventions of the CDC ECHPP initiative. A second CFAR supplement (ECHPP-2) was awarded in September 2012 to support more focused exploratory research on various steps in the HIV treatment cascade; with NIMH supporting a parallel supplement (APC-1) to support complementary research by AIDS Prevention Centers in three of the CEWG cities. A third current CFAR supplement (ECHPP-3) will further develop the CEWG by enabling all CFARs to compete and “propose pilot interventions at one or more important junctures in the treatment cascade”.
To promote inter-CFAR collaboration on the ECHPP initiative and to stimulate scientific productivity, the DC D-CFAR hosted a small inaugural conference with 30 participants in October 2011 As part of the ECHPP-2 supplement, the DC D-CFAR organized the first National CFAR/APC ECHPP Conference with 100 participants in October 2012. This conference featured presentations by the CEWG Site PIs on the scientific results of the ECHPP-1 projects, and by the APC PIs on the aims of the APC-1 projects. This conference stimulated the development of a journal supplement with the results of the ECHPP-1 projects that is scheduled to be published in JAIDS in November 2012. This current proposal is requesting support for a second National CFAR/APC Conference to be held for 50-75 participants in February 2014. The Specific Aims of this conference are to present the scientific results of the ECHPP-2 and APC-1 projects, and to discuss the aims and progress of the CFAR ECHPP-3 projects.
The CFAR/APC ECHPP Conferences play a central role in maintaining the scientific momentum of the CFAR ECHPP initiative; ensuring that scientific results are presented and best practices shared in a timely manner; and serving as a powerful impetus for the timely publication of results in the scientific literature.