Office of AIDS Research
Encyclopedia : O : OF : OFF : Office of AIDS Research
The NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) is located within the Office of the Director of NIH and is responsible for the scientific, budgetary, legislative, and policy elements of the NIH AIDS research program.
Congress has provided broad authority to the OAR to plan, coordinate, evaluate, and fund all NIH AIDS research. The OAR is responsible for the development of an annual comprehensive plan and budget for all NIH AIDS research. OAR supports trans-NIH Coordinating Committees to assist in these efforts in the following areas of program emphasis:
Natural History and Epidemiology Etiology and Pathogenesis Therapeutics Vaccines Behavioral and Social Science Microbicides HIV Prevention Research Racial and Ethnic Minorities Women & Girls and HIV/AIDS International Research Training and Infrastructure Information Dissemination Research Overview The OAR promotes collaborative research activities in both domestic and international settings. Utilizing the expertise of non-government scientists and AIDS community representatives, the OAR has conducted the first comprehensive evaluation of the NIH AIDS research program to determine whether it is appropriately designed and coordinated to answer the critical scientific questions which will lead to better treatments, prevention, and a cure for AIDS.
The OAR administers an emergency discretionary fund and supports the Intramural AIDS Targeted Antiviral Program (IATAP) and the NIH AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program (LRP).
The OAR Advisory Council was established by Law to provide expert advice to the Director of OAR. The Council, composed of non-government experts from a broad array of scientific disciplines as well as AIDS community representatives, will review the annual plan, budget requests, and discretionary fund disbursements.
Natural History and Epidemiology
The NIH conducts studies to examine the transmission of HIV and the progression of HIV-related disease. Such studies examine the effects of viral factors, host factors, and cofactors on the risk of infection and disease progression. Cohorts of HIV-infected individuals and HIV-uninfected individuals at risk of infection are followed in clinical epidemiology studies at domestic and international sites.
Etiology and Pathogenesis
NIH-sponsored investigations have facilitated the identification of HIV as the causative agent of AIDS and the development of a highly sensitive diagnostic test for HIV infection. Ongoing studies focus on the elucidation of the role of the structural and regulatory genes of HIV, the delineation of the mechanisms of the HIV-induced cytopathicity, and the immunopathogenesis of HIV disease.
Therapeutics
The NIH supports two major approaches in the area of drug development, screening and rational (targeted) drug programs, for the purpose of developing agents targeted at inhibiting specific steps in the HIV life cycle. In addition, the NIH supports approximately 100 sites nationwide to conduct clinical trials of candidate drugs/agents.
Vaccines
In working towards successful strategies for stimulating a protective immune response against HIV infection, NIH supports a broad program encompassing basic, preclinical, and clinical vaccine research on candidate vaccine products. In parallel, NIH supports research on risk factors and other preventive interventions that will form an essential foundation for vaccine trials.
Behavioral and Social Science
The NIH sponsors behavioral and social science research related to: developing, implementing, and evaluating behavioral and social interventions to reduce HIV transmission; understanding determinants, trends, and processes of HIV-related risk behaviors and the consequences of HIV infection; developing and evaluating behavioral strategies for preventing or ameliorating the negative consequences of HIV infection; and improving the research methodologies employed in behavioral and social science research.
Microbicides
A key focus of current NIH HIV prevention research is the development of safe, acceptable, and accessible chemical barriers, known as microbicides, to prevent HIV transmission during sexual intercourse. To enhance and stimulate research in this area, OAR sponsored the first international conference on microbicides, and NIH supports trials of various topical microbicides.
HIV Prevention Research
NIH supports a comprehensive approach to HIV prevention research that includes contributions from the biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences. The OAR prevention science research agenda targets interventions to both infected and uninfected, at-risk individuals to reduce HIV transmission.
Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Research to address the disproportionate impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on U.S. racial and ethnic minority communities continues to be a high priority. OAR has established the Ad Hoc Working Group on Minority Research to provide advice on the scientific priorities in this critical research area.
Women & Girls and HIV/AIDS
The impact of HIV infection is experienced in many different ways by women and girls throughout the world. Some effects are chiefly biological, and others are more psychosocial or social.
International Research
To address the increasing urgency of the global AIDS pandemic, OAR has established a new initiative and strategic plan for global research on HIV/AIDS. The Global AIDS Research Initiative and Strategic Plan aims at slowing the disaster and reversing its destruction of communities, economies, and nations worldwide.
Training and Infrastructure
The NIH supports several intramural and extramural research resource programs. Included in these programs are grants for training AIDS researchers, support of animal facilities for animal model research, and constructing or improving existing facilities and equipment for AIDS-related research.The six OAR coordinating committees share the responsibility for the Training and Infrastructure area of emphasis.
Information Dissemination
The NIH has responsibility for obtaining and disseminating information to support research, treatment, and prevention related to HIV and AIDS. Progress in these areas depends upon the transfer of information to audiences with varying needs for information in a manner that is understandable and useable. The NIH has ongoing programs and new initiatives to support this effort.
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