The HMS Division of AIDS and HU Center for AIDS Research community programming support clinical research education and outreach initiatives across the University and with our affiliated institutions. People infected with and affected by HIV are encouraged to participate in and provide input on the numerous research network studies (e.g., ACTG, HVTN, IMPAACT, INSIGHT, and MTN ), pharmaceutical clinical trials, and other studies of HIV pathogenesis that are available across the University. Recruitment and retention in these and other studies have benefited from extensive community outreach and education programs as well as established partnerships.
The clinical research education and outreach activities of the HU CFAR involve a number of efforts, many of which are co-funded by philanthropic and institutional support. Education efforts of patients and providers on a variety of HIV/AIDS-related topics are conducted by a variety of teaching techniques including small group, case presentations and formal didactic presentations. A primary goal of the Community Programs at the Division of AIDS and within the CFAR is to ensure that new and recent research findings related to HIV prevention, care, and treatment are shared with patients, clinicians, caregivers, HIV/AIDS service providers, and interested persons in the community as soon as possible. Harvard University faculty and staff make themselves available in a variety of settings to ensure that scientific contributions and findings from investigators are translated for general public use and accessible to those who can benefit most. Listed below are three key educational seminars for that are used to provide access to current research findings as well as disseminate essential information on the latest HIV developments.
HIV Clinical Research Education Activities
Boston Neighbord Network Cable Program
The goal of this cable program is to enhance and increase the general knowledge of interested members of the community on HIV disease and other related issues. This is a collaborative project between Harvard Medical School Division of AIDS, Harvard University Center for AIDS Research and the Boston Public Health Commission. The title of the show is “AIDS: Journey to Discovery” and the on air slogan is “HIV/AIDS: What everyone needs to know but afraid to ask.”
Comcast channel 9 and RCN channel 15
Series Schedule (E: English, S: Spanish and HC: Haitian Creole)
Segment 1 |
HIV Disease: The Pandemic (Global & Local Impact) |
Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 3pm (E) Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 3pm (S) Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 3pm (HC) |
|---|---|---|
Segment 2 |
HIV Counseling & Testing |
Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 3pm (E) Wednesday, June 4, 2008, 3pm (S) Wednesday, June 11, 2008, 3pm (HC) |
Segment 3 |
Patient: HIV Care and Treatment |
Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 3pm (E) Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 3pm (S) Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 3pm (HC) |
Segment 4 |
Roundtable Discussion |
Wednesday, July 9, 2008, 3pm (E) Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 3pm (S) Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 3pm (HC) |
The Retrovirology Dinner Club
On a quarterly basis, the Retrovirology Dinner Club meets and provides a forum for researchers, physicians and clinicians to present the latest findings in HIV research. The Retrovirology Dinner Club has given researchers within the CFAR a forum for presenting their work and to hear what other institutions are doing to advance AIDS research.
HIV Clinical Research-in-Progress Conferences
The CFAR supports an ongoing series of HIV clinical research-in-progress conferences at the Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's Hospitals that provide a forum for CFAR investigators to present their research and to obtain input from other faculty. The goal of these clinical research conferences is to cover the entire research spectrum from grant ideas to research-in-progress to ongoing data analyses. These meetings have been invaluable to junior investigators, giving them the chance to present work in progress to senior HU CFAR faculty.
Annual HMS Student AIDS Forum
The CFAR Clinical Core organizes and sponsors an annual forum that updates Harvard medical students on advances in HIV clinical research and provides opportunity for students to network with potential mentors. This annual student AIDS forum provides information to physicians-in-training on clinical and psychosocial affecting patients with HIV, as well as updates on current research. Additionally, this educational symposium includes a networking lunch, which allowed students and faculty to connect, and the breakout sessions focus on career paths and ways students can get involved in HIV-related work.
Additionally, in collaboration with local, community-based organizations, we have developed educational symposia designed and created to provide a broad range of services and activities to encourage and include participation from diverse populations. To help guide and implement our extensive local and international community education and outreach program, we have established partnerships with community-based organizations such as Boston's Women of Color RoundTable (WOCRT) which consists of several local agencies including Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), Multicultural AIDS Coalition, Inc. (MAC), AIDS Action Committee, Inc. (AAC) and Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD).
Nationally, Wanda Allen, our Community Programs Manager, is a member of the U.S. DHHS Office on Women's Health (OWH), Women and HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategies Workgroup. OWH convenes a Women and HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategies workgroup which meets monthly via teleconferences and annually in person, to develop clear HIV prevention strategies which convey the sense of urgency of HIV/AIDS in the lives of women and their families across the nation. OWH's workgroup had prioritized four areas: 1) Cross-Generational Approaches to HIV/AIDS Prevention Education for Women; 2) Women and Trauma, Depression, Substance Abuse and HIV/AIDS; 3.) Intimate Partner Violence, and 4.) HIV Preventive clinical trials, Vaccines and medical care/treatment co-chaired by HU CFAR staff. This national strategic workgroup presently has 27 members from across the country, which has created a network of resources nation-wide to support and strengthen the dissemination of the most current and reliable vital information on HIV including clinical trials. Locally, Ms. Allen brings resources and information from these national organizations to our local communities to support these efforts.
Internationally, we have established mutual beneficial collaborations with partners in resource scarce settings; particularly in South Africa . For example, we are putting technology to work in the effort to educate health care providers in resource-limited areas with the most recent advancements in HIV treatment through the HIV Online Provider Education (HOPE) Program. The program uses a voice-over-internet web conferencing program to provide on-line interactive case discussions and continuing HIV/AIDS education to health-care professionals in resource-scare settings. In conjunction with healthcare providers at our partner sites, such as McCord Hospital in Durban , South Africa , we have established a twice-monthly case conference series for health care providers in South Africa . These partnerships work together to strategically address training needs, share information, and build capacity to develop a collective educational program to address vital clinical issues in caring and treating patients suffering from the AIDS pandemic.
Key concepts and goals of our local, national and international community partnerships and their impact on HIV/AIDS research, training, and education programming:
• Agree to collaborate to achieve common goals and help solve complex or difficult problems as they relate to the continuum of care and treatment of HIV disease
• Implement beneficial educational programs to share relevant HIV information to ensure the greatest impact on the most at risk populations
• Community knowledge and resources help processes work best within local communities to have the most sufficient impact on reaching out-to-reach populations
Successful collaborative partnerships locally, nationally and abroad build local skills, leadership capacity and institutional development while creating sustainability for ongoing initiatives to abate HIV disease and provide access to treatment including clinical trials for those in need. The synergy from our highly participatory education and outreach partnerships create mutually beneficial collaborations that ensure the continuity of community programming in fulfillment of the HU CFAR mission here and abroad.
HU CFAR staff and faculty will continue to work with NIH-funded network staff to coordinate efforts and create economies of scale community education and study volunteer recruitment and retention. To help guide and implement our extensive community education and outreach program, the CFAR Network Committee (CNC) was created. The CNC of the Clinical Core is comprised of staff from the HMS-affiliated institutions and NIH-sponsored research networks engaged in specific projects in AIDS clinical research outreach, education, and/or recruitment activities.
The alliances CFAR has formed strengthen ties with communities because of their impact and response to real-life needs as it relates to HIV/AIDS disease. This relevance establishes the CFAR program as a strategic partner in enhancing the quality of life in the community and develops a broad-based impact locally, nationally and globally to better fulfill our mission… “To expand, promote, and facilitate collaborative, multidisciplinary activities in HIV/AIDS research, education, and training among CFAR members and associate members throughout the University, in order to help end the AIDS pandemic.”
The Community program activities are facilitated and coordinated by Wanda Allen. For more information on our community programs, please contact Wanda at wanda_allen@hms.harvard.edu .
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