Training and Research in HIV Prevention in Russia

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the past decade we have concentrated our efforts in St. Petersburg, Russia training young behavioral and medical scientists to participate in interdisciplinary HIV epidemiological, behavioral, and prevention research. Our most successful trainees - those who have made significant contributions to past and ongoing research collaborations - have been university-affiliated junior faculty members who conduct their research in either non-governmental organizations, research institutes, or branches of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Building on these successes, we will continue to provide interdisciplinary mentored research training to build cadres of research competence at these institutions and simultaneously develop the necessary interdisciplinary collaborations to succeed in building research teams to conduct epidemiological, behavioral, and prevention research in St. Petersburg and more broadly in the Russian Federation. We have identified five focus areas for research training: primary prevention for high-risk populations, secondary HIV prevention for HIV positives, health services research, nursing research, and translational research. This application will describe the successes and challenges of our current training program, highlight the research conducted by trainees in collaboration with their Yale mentors, and detail the new directions we will take to continue to produce well-trained, motivated, and successful researchers who possess the interdisciplinary competencies to succeed as research scientists and make productive contributions in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia, which remains one of the fastest growing in the world.