A Training Program to Develop HIV Biobehavioral Prevention Interventions

The HIV epidemic in the United States remains a critical public health concern. There is a profound need to design and test biobehavioral HIV prevention interventions. Challenges associated with the creation and uptake of combination prevention responses will certainly not be overcome unless we continue to invest in the training of new generations of scholars who are committed to ending the HIV epidemic. This application requests support for the five-year continuation of our NIMH-funded institutional training grant, “A Training Program to Develop HIV Biobehavioral Prevention Interventions.” This training program has been designed with the goal of providing trainees with the necessary skill sets to not only launch their careers, but also to make a substantial difference in the fight against HIV. This program is grounded within a leading School of Public Health, a research environment that is rich in terms of HIV prevention research expertise and with robust theoretical and empirical approaches to explaining HIV risk. This creates an ideal environment to train the next generation of HIV prevention scientists who will address the epidemic. Continuation of a T32 training program within this extraordinarily rich environment will continue a mechanism to mentor the next generation of HIV prevention scientists who will be uniquely poised to find ways to end the epidemic.