DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) is a highly productive, vibrant, and innovative organization, conducting cutting edge and high-impact HIV prevention research, with a cutting-edge and multidisciplinary faculty, and strong and stable institutional support from one of the highest ranked medical schools in the country. CAPS' important contributions to HIV prevention science are evident in the over 470 manuscripts published during the current funding period. In a tight funding environment, CAPS has continued to successfully obtain NIH research grants, with a 60% success rate, and successfully diversified its funding portfolio to include projects examining the effective implementation of HIV prevention science. The Center will build on its long and successful history of providing critical support to its cadre of world-class scientists who have pushed scientific boundaries in addressing the HIV pandemic. CAPS' research is distinguished by its depth and breadth, enabling the center to conduct the studies necessary to reach global indicators for ending the epidemic. CAPS' mission is actualized via an infrastructure designed to ignite scientific innovation and high impact research. The cores proposed in this renewal application were designed to ensure CAPS remains at the forefront of driving progress in HIV prevention research. The specific aims are to: 1. Catalyze a scientific environment that ignites timely, innovative, high impact, interdisciplinary research that nimbly addresses current and emerging issues in the HIV epidemic; 2. Build the number, effectiveness, and diversity of investigators and community and public health partners who are trained to conduct high-impact HIV research; 3. Develop and promote the use of innovative strategies for collection, management, and analysis of complex data to advance HIV prevention science in order to optimize the development and implementation of efficacious and effective HIV preventive interventions, and promote the use of cutting edge technologies; 4. Develop and maximize the public health impact of optimally efficacious, culturally competent and implementable interventions, strategies and prevention tools by moving them into policy and practice. CAPS will continue to push the limits of innovative and interdisciplinary HIV prevention research, adding value to the fight to end the HIV epidemic through a solid basic social and behavioral science foundation, innovative and efficacious interventions, and robust research in implementation science, including explication of significant HIV/AIDS policy questions.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Since its inception, the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) has been at the forefront of conducting theory-driven, rigorous research to prevent new HIV infections, improve health outcomes among those infected and reduce significant HIV-related health disparities. The Center will build on its long and successful history of providing critical support to its cadre of world-class scientists that conduct interdisciplinary research to achieve an end to the HIV epidemic. .