the Global Community core

Promoting Collaboration among Communities, Researchers and Governments at the Local, State, National and International Levels

The Global Community Core (GCC) provides leadership and expertise to ensure that HIV Center research is meaningful and relevant, reflecting actual "needs on the ground" in terms of both the US and international epidemics. Drawing together a diverse international group from academia, government, community-based organizations (CBOs), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Core ensures that HIV Center researchers identify and engage all relevant stakeholders in the research process, participate in genuinely constructive partnerships, and produce research knowledge that will have a sustainable impact on the global AIDS epidemic. The expertise of GCC faculty derives from their extensive experience in academic research, policy, health practice, and community service in the US and internationally, including South Africa, Brazil, China, Mexico, Vietnam, India, and the Dominican Republic.

The GCC supports ongoing development of interdisciplinary research conducted by HIV Center investigators by fostering and sustaining collaborative relationships with partners at multiple levels (e.g., community, institutional, governmental) in every location where the Center conducts research and by identifying emerging issues of significance in international and collaborative research. The Core builds upon existing partnerships and promote new ones to facilitate rigorous collaborative HIV behavioral research. A particular emphasis is on the large new programs that are transforming the landscape of HIV treatment, care, and prevention in the developing world, many of which are active at our home institution of Columbia University and elsewhere in New York City.

As increased international efforts focus on scaling up the availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART), we are exploring  approaches to incorporate behavioral interventions to enhance the success of care (e.g. through adherence programs) and to bring effective prevention programs to people living with HIV and those at high risk. We also are committed to bringing tools, resources, expertise, and access to the global communities most affected by HIV/AIDS, and to using treatment initiatives to enhance prevention opportunities. Core staff members will produce analyses and case studies about collaborative HIV behavioral research that will be the subject of both publications in academic journals as well as web-based publications so as to be useful to community and academic audiences alike.

The work of the GCC draws heavily on the community-based participatory research (CBPR) model, because community-based research is more effective and sustainable when all stakeholders are involved. In the context of widespread "scale-up" of treatment with new opportunities for prevention, the GCC also facilitates collaborations among scientists, policymakers, funders, health practitioners, community members, and other stakeholders in all settings, be they domestic or international. Further, the GCC enhances the expertise of investigators as they move into new and more diverse settings cross-nationally and cross-culturally.
 

Core Members

Robert Remien, PhD: Core Director
Laurie Bauman, Ph.D.: Core Co-Director
Richard Parker, Ph.D.: Core Co-Director

Carlos Allende-Ramos (VIP Community Services)
Elizabeth Begier, M.D. (NYC DOHMH)
Alma Candelas, M.P.H. (NY State DOH AIDS Institute)
Joyce Hunter, D.S.W.
Susan Klein, M.S. (NY State DOH AIDS Institute)
Beatrice J. Krauss, Ph.D. (Hunter Center on Community and Urban Health)
David Lounsbury, Ph.D. (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
Miguel Munoz-Laboy, Ph.D.
Joanne Mantell, Ph.D.
Mary McKay, PhD (Mt. Sinai, Psychiatry/Community Medicine)
Eleanor Preston-White, Ph.D. (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
Bruce Rapkin, Ph.D. (Cornell University Medical College)
Raymond A. Smith, Ph.D.
Veriano Terto, M.D. (ABIA, Brazil)
Patrick Wilson, Ph.D.
 

HIV Action Research Network

In an important development for participatory HIV research in New York City, the HIV Center launched the HIV Action Research Network in 2007.  Initiated by former Community Collaboration Core, the HIV Action Research Networks continues to maintain close connections with the Global Community Core.  The network seeks create an infrastructure for research partnerships among community-based organizations (CBOs), government agencies, and academic researchers. The goal is to conduct collaborative research that will inform mental health services science, service delivery, program dissemination and implementation, and mental health policy.

Carlos Allende-Ramos, VIP Community Services
Laurie Bauman, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Yvette Calderon, Jacobi Medical Center
Normal Candelario, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
Alma Candelas NYS Dept. of Health AIDS Institute
Daniel Castellanos Queens Pride House
Mary Dredd, Steinway Child and Family Services
Soraya Elcock, Harlem United Community AIDS Center
Billy Fields, Osborne Association
Tim Frasca, Latino Commission on AIDS
Yumiko Fukuda, Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA)
Zachariah Hennessey, Bronx Pride House
Joyce Hunter, HIV Center
Reena John, Women's HIV Collaborative of NY
Christopher Johnson, Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD)
Howard Josepher, Exponents, Inc.
Maria Josepher, Exponents, Inc.
Stephen Karpiak, AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA)
Beatrice Krauss, Hunter College Center for Community Urban Health
Carla Lewis, Project Hospitality
Evelyn Lopez, Hetrick-Martin Institute
Rosemary Lopez, AIDS Center of Queens County (ACQC)
David Lounsbury, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Mary Lutz, Greenwich House
Gern Matusewitch, Greenwich House
Jennifer Medina, AIDS Center of Queens County (ACQC)
Clarisse Miller, Osborne Association
Sonja Noring,  NYS Deptarment of Health AIDS Institute
Tokes Osubu, Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD)
Sung Won Park, Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA)
Shilpa Patel, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Bruce Rapkin, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Warren Reich, The Family Center
Robert Remien, HIV Center
Samuel Rivera, Bronx Community Pride Center
Rashi Rohatgi, Harlem United Community AIDS Center
Andrew Shippey, AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA)
Raymond Smith, HIV Center
Bill Stackhouse,  Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
Dicxon, Valderruten, Osborne Association
Rachel Vaughan, Steinway Child and Family Services
Barbara Warren, LGBT Community Center
Elisa Weiss, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Muhammed Zaid, Memoorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Cntr