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While research studies and publishing have always
been at the heart of the work of the HIV Center,
education has also always been a crucial component of
our mission. For 20 years,
the HIV Center has been home to a range of training
programs focused on transmitting expertise to the next
generation both at home and globally. One new addition,
the MAC AIDS Fund Leadership Initiative, is the focus of the
lead story in this issue of the HIV Center
E-Newsletter. Several others are profiled below.
The NY/NJ
AETC
 In October 2006,
the HIV Center became the new home to the
New York/New
Jersey AIDS Education and Training Center (NY/NJ
AETC). This multi-site training program has several
principal aims: identifying and responding to HIV
clinical care providers' prevention, diagnosis and
clinical management training needs; increasing the
number of clinicians in the NY/NJ region who are
competent and willing to provide HIV/AIDS clinical
treatment; building community capacity for HIV treatment
in minority communities and promoting culturally
competent care; and systematically evaluating program
activities and disseminating best practices.
“This
collaboration offers a number of benefits,” notes
Francine Cournos, M.D., the NY/NJ AETC’s Principal
Investigator. “Many members of the HIV Center are
sharing their expertise with community providers as part
of the training grant, and the AETC looks forward to
potential future research collaborations. At the same
time, the AETC expands the role of the HIV Center to
include training physicians, physician assistants,
nurses, nurse practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, and
other health care workers in the best practices for HIV
testing and care.”
Daria
Boccher-Lattimore, Dr.P.H., who is the Director and
Co-PI, adds “The AETC and the HIV Center share parallel
functions. Like the HIV Center, the AETC is part of a
national network focusing on enhancing the provision of
care to HIV-infected and affected populations with a
specific focus on responding to the needs of underserved
populations. As with the HIV Center, the training
activities of the AETCs are constantly adapting to
respond to the changing epidemic. In partnership with
15 institutions in both states, the NY/NJ AETC provides
the health care community of both states with leadership
and expertise to ensure translation of the latest
findings into care."
Postdoctoral Training Program
Founded in 1989,
the NIMH-funded
Behavioral
Sciences Research in HIV Infection Training Program
provides innovative postdoctoral training in sexuality
research applied to HIV prevention science. The program
emphasizes multidisciplinary training, including
matriculation in a specialized track of the M.S. degree
in Biostatistics in the
Columbia University Mailman
School of Public Health. The core element of the
Training Program is the close working relationship that
Fellows develop with their Scientific and Career
Mentors, who are experienced senior investigators.
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To date, more than 60 recent graduates of Ph.D. or
M.D. programs have been trained in research methodology,
design, and statistical analysis appropriate to the
overriding goal of enabling them to become scholars
capable of assuming independent research careers in an
HIV-related field. Among graduates since the year 2000,
for instance, over three-quarters have remained
professionally engaged in academic research and/or the
field of HIV/AIDS.
Graduates of the class of 2006 reflect the diversity
of the
Postdoctoral
Fellowship program in terms of
discipline,
methodological approach, gender,
and
ethnicity.
“The impact of
the Training Program program is attested to by the
subsequent career success of the Fellows,” notes
Training Director
Theo Sandfort, Ph.D. “We have
been fortunate to have an exceptionally diverse corps of
Fellows, both in terms of their disciplines, subject
areas, and backgrounds as well as their gender and
ethnicity.” HIV Center Director Anke A. Ehrhardt
, who is also the Fellowship Program Director, adds,
“The Fellows have always offered new perspectives,
raised new issues, and helped us to question things that
we may have taken for granted. They challenge us and
help us to ‘push the envelope’ in our thinking.”
Applications for the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for next year
will be accepted until February 1, 2009. For further
information,
click here.
Other
Training Programs
With its twin
home bases of the New York State Psychiatric Institute
and Columbia University, the HIV Center also participates
in a range of other training related activities,
including the following:
- Since 1993,
the HIV Center has been a key participant in the
Columbia University-Southern Africa AITRP (CU-SA
AITRP), which is part of the NIH
Fogarty AIDS
International Training and Research Program (AITRP).
This program supports HIV/AIDS and related TB
international training and research for foreign
health scientists, clinicians, and allied health
workers from developing countries and emerging
democracies.
- Center
investigators provide training for psychology
interns, medical students, graduate students,
psychiatry residents, and other fellows from the
Columbia University Health Sciences Campus. From the
HIV
Center, Dr. Sandfort and Diane di Mauro, Ph.D. were has been instrumental in developing the
Sexuality and Health Track in the M.P.H. program
at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.
- The HIV
Center has also been a training site for Minority
Investigators supported by NIMH supplements, Aaron
Diamond Foundation Postdoctoral Fellows, Social
Science Research Council Sexuality Research Fellows,
and Visiting Scientists. In addition, visitors from
throughout the world have participated in the HIV
Center’s weekly
Grand Rounds.
To learn more about the HIV Center's training
programs, click here. |
