The Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) are a group of NIH-funded and independently-operated research centers at academic institutions across the United States (US). The CFARs reside within the Division of AIDS, NIAID; and are co-funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); National Cancer Institute (NCI); Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI); National Institute on Drug Abuse, (NIDA); National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH); National Institute on Aging (NIA); National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK); National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), and National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). The CFAR program is scientifically managed by these eleven NIH Institutes as well as the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) and the Fogarty International Center (FIC).
The mission of the CFAR program is to support multidisciplinary research aimed at reducing the burden of HIV both in the United States and around the globe. The continuing spread of HIV in the US and globally underscores the need for ongoing, nationally coordinated collaborative conduct of basic, clinical, epidemiologic, behavioral, and translational research to improve the prevention, detection, treatment and cure/remission of HIV infection and the associated complications / comorbidities. The CFARs accomplish this mission by:
- Providing scientific leadership and institutional infrastructure dedicated to HIV/AIDS research
- Promoting development of sustainable multidisciplinary HIV/AIDS research programs at each CFAR institution, and leveraging impact by extension to additional non-CFAR partner institutions, including minority institutions and local health departments
- Stimulating scientific collaboration in interdisciplinary and translational research, through facilitating research collaborations within and among CFARs, and supporting HIV/AIDS research networks
- Supporting basic, translational, implementation and health policy research to facilitate application of research findings to HIV/AIDS prevention and care
- Strengthening capacity for HIV/AIDS research through international collaborations to efficiently and effectively answer important questions related to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic
- Fostering scientific communication and disseminating important research discoveries to scientific and lay communities
- Sponsoring HIV/AIDS-related training and education as well as providing opportunities for career development
- Developing the next generation of scientific leaders in HIV/AIDS research through focused mentoring, career development and funding support to early career investigators
- Promoting knowledge of CFAR research findings and the importance of HIV/AIDS research through community outreach
- Engaging with the NIH and affected communities to prioritize and focus HIV/AIDS research
- Facilitating technology transfer and development through promotion of scientific interactions between CFARs
- Supporting research on prevention and treatment of HIV infection in underserved domestic populations and those who experience health disparities, especially in communities at high risk for HIV infection
- Leveraging additional HIV/AIDS funding from CFAR host institutions and through philanthropy
- Coordinating responses to the NIH related to emerging research priorities
The mission of the CFAR program and mechanisms for achieving this mission were developed by the CFAR directors in 1995 and previously revised in 1996, 1998, and in the 2002 Position Statement of the NIH CFAR Directors. The current revision is an outgrowth of the National CFAR Directors’ Meeting held in Cambridge, MA in November 2016, and submitted to NIH in March 2017.