NYC center receives $7.5 million NIH funds for AIDS research

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, The Rockefeller University and The City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY) has been awarded a $7.5 million grant for the Center for AIDS Research focused on preventing HIV transmission and ending the AIDS epidemic.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine which is one of the premier centers of research, medical education and clinical investigation, is home to 717 M.D. students, 166 Ph.D. students, 103 combined students in the combined M.D. /Ph.D. program and 278 postdoctoral research fellows. The Rockefeller University is the world’s leading biomedical research university and is dedicated to conducting innovative, high-quality research to improve the understanding of life for the benefit of humanity. The City University of New York is one of the leading urban public university in New York.

The Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY Center for AIDS Research (ERC-CFAR) is directed by Harris Goldstein, M.D., professor of pediatrics and of microbiology & immunology at Einstein and brings together a powerful team of more than 150 investigators from these three institutions.

The key groups together will innovate new approaches to treat and control HIV spread in the community. A major focus of the ERC-CFAR's mission is to translate research into sustainable implementation of population level interventions and strategies that have the potential to improve HIV-related outcomes and reduce health disparities on a large scale.

The new center is one of 19 CFARs nationwide that are funded as part of an NIH-coordinated initiative to support multidisciplinary research aimed at reducing the burden of HIV in the United States and abroad.

The leadership team of the center includes two additional associate directors: Sarah Schlesinger, M.D., of Rockefeller, who is an expert on designing and implementing immune-based clinical trials to prevent HIV-1 infection and Betsy Herold, M.D., of Einstein, who is a leader in developing safe and effective topical microbicides for preventing HIV, genital herpes and other sexually transmitted infections.

On June 19, the new center will host an inaugural symposium at Einstein featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Mary Bassett, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Dr. Michel Nussenzweig, professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at The Rockefeller University.

The grant is titled "Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY Center for AIDS Research" (1P30AI124414-01A1).