Recently, Georgetown University researchers received a $3 million NIH bioresearch grant to open a new collaborative HIV/AIDS research center called the Developmental Center for AIDS Research (D-CFAR).
Now D-CFAR has developed into a thriving research center with top scientists from Georgetown, Children’s National Medical Center, The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, the D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Howard University and several local clinics.
(Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding. Wikimedia Commons)
D-CFAR was created to combat the rising rates of HIV/AIDS in the Washington D.C. Research in this filed is very important in an area with an HIV infection rate of 3.2%. The World Health Organization defines an epidemic as an infection rate of 1%.
The launch of D-CFAR has lead to a significant increase in research dollars for HIV/AIDS research, including grants to young emerging researchers in the filed. Dr. Mary Young, director of the HIV Women's Program and Assistant Professor of medicine at Georgetown (image courtesy of Georgetown), said “Through the D-CFAR, we’ve been able to award small grants to junior and minority researchers for further investigation of the virus and disease.”
Young's own research has also benefited from her connection with D-CFAR. She has spear-headed the NIH funded Women’s Interagency HIV study which has observed the effects of HIV on women since 1944. With the development of D-CFAR she is able to easily collaborate with other researchers affiliated with the center. In particular, she can more easily share her own bioresearch data with other scientists to foster new and important innovations.
Young says she hopes D-CFAR will help "patients benefit in ways we could not have imagined years ago.”
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