Cores & Working Groups/Interest Groups
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tn-cfar@vumc.org
Cores
Administrative Core
The Administrative Core (AC) is the “operating system” of the CFAR – overseeing resources and creating a collaborative environment for CFAR users through Cores and Scientific Working Groups (SWG), respectively; receiving and synthesizing input from users; modifying resources; and refining the process in real-time.
Advance Technologies Core
Vanderbilt has a rich traditional of trans-institutional collaboration, and has long prioritized institutional support for shared core facilities. This has created a wide range of institutional cores to support basic and clinical research, and that are equally available to investigators at all partner institutions. These include two state-of-the-art resources centrally relevant to HIV/AIDS, for genomics and for immunology. The Advanced Technologies Core (ATC) will provide leadership and services designed to dramatically increase the ability of HIV investigators to most effectively take advantage of these resources, and in so doing provide immense added value to HIV researchers at Vanderbilt University, Meharry Medical College, Nashville CARES, and the Tennessee Department of Health.
Clinical Sciences Core
The Clinical Sciences Core (CSC) fills major gaps in the local research environment, and in so doing supports the mission of the CFAR to reduce the overall burden of HIV/AIDS through the pursiot of National Institutes of Health high priorities of HIV/AIDS research with the ultimate goal of ending the HIV epidemic. The CSC is essential for early stage investigators on the path toward independent extramural funding, which equips the next generation of research scientists while also serving to expand this CFAR’s HIV research portfolio and funding base.
Data Sciences Core
The Data Sciences Core collaborates closely with other cores and develops novel resources, tools and methods to enhance HIV/AIDS research at the participating instituions and beyond. The DSC team has broad HIV research experience, including leadership roles for interational HIV research consortia, long-standing collaborations with HIV investigators, experience handling and analyzing large genomic datasets, and proven track records of developing novel methods and tools informed by and beneficial to the HIV research community.
Developmental Core
The Developmental Core (DC) is envisioned as both a magnet and an engine: a magnet that attracts early-stage and established investigators into HIV research and an engine that provides structure and drive to nurture promising investigators toward success in NIH grant funding.
Implementation Science Core
Implementation Science (IS) theories, models, and frameworks hold the potential to bridge the evidence-to-practice gap. The ISC integrates IS research into research projects at all phases of study. Our team brings complementary but distinct expertise in IS methods, including study design, measurement, and frameworks, as evidenced by several NIH-funded projects designed to improve the implementation of HIV testing and treatment. We are experienced in providing IS collaborative partnerships and mentorship. In addition, the team has the experience to develop advanced IS skills among HIV researchers, and to expand their work in IS to promote the translatability, practicality, and transferability of CFAR research.
Scientific Working/Interest Groups
Faith & Spirituality Research Collaborative
The vision of the Faith & Spirituality Research Collaborative is to build collaborations among researchers, faith-based organizations, community leaders and public sector leaders, with a focus on ending the HIV epidemic.
Health Policy & HIV Science Working Group
HIV prevention and treatment efforts are significantly influenced by policies and regulations at the local, state, and federal levels. Some policy decisions are highly specific to HIV, whereas other policy decisions are untargeted but likely to have a disproportionate effect on the health and behaviors of people living with or at risk of HIV. Both targeted and untargeted policy decisions can have disproportionate effects on NIH priority disparity populations, including racial/ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minority populations, and low-income populations. However, health policy researchers and policy analysis methods are not well integrated into HIV research. The overarching goal of this new Health Policy and HIV Scientific Working Group (SWG) is to organize and expand health policy expertise within the CFAR by fostering new connections between HIV investigators and health policy investigators, and catalyzing research to understand how HIV-related policies on prevention, transmission, and treatment impact HIV continuum of care outcomes. This SWG leverages the longstanding and productive CFAR partnership between Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee Department of Health, and Nashville CARES. The SWG is newly engaged with the CFAR health policy expertise in the nationally recognized Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt and the recently established School of Global Health at Meharry.