Project Summary/Abstract (Overview) The Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) is composed of two academic institutions, Brown University and Boston University, their affiliated hospitals, Lifespan and Boston Medical Center (BMC), and the RI Department of Health, MA Department of Public Health, local community organizations, and international sites. The mission of the Providence/Boston CFAR is to promote the NIH HIV priority research agenda. We are devoted to the pursuit of translational research to reduce the burden of HIV infection worldwide, with special focus on substance users, women, 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. The CFAR consists of 6 Cores (Administrative, Developmental, BioBehavioral Sciences, Biostatistics, Basic and Translational Sciences, Substance Use Research), and one HIV/TB Scientific Working Group. We have a strong, dynamic group of HIV researchers from our long history, and expect continued growth from the addition of Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC) investigators. Our goal is to decrease the HIV epidemic by advancing research in prevention, treatment and its cascade, and the care of co- morbidities among the most afflicted and vulnerable populations. The Cores are strategically formed to support areas of strength among the Providence/Boston CFAR investigators. Our investigators have innovative approaches in biomedical prevention, treatment modalities, and cutting-edge research on substance use, leveraging our unique position of having an alcohol and HIV center within each institution. Our HIV in women's program has a long history of defining the natural history of HIV in women, pathogenesis, and prevention, including microbicide research. The partnership also brings research strength in economic analysis, cost- effectiveness, computational biology, and HIV/TB.

PROJECT NARRATIVE (OVERVIEW) The Providence/Boston CFAR, a collaboration between Brown University/Lifespan and Boston University and Boston Medical Center (BUMC), has the leadership, infrastructure, and a wide range of HIV/AIDS Core services for our research community to promote the NIH HIV priority research agenda. Our CFAR is devoted to the pursuit of translational research to reduce the burden of HIV infection worldwide, with special focus on substance users, women, 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.