For more than a decade, researchers at the Meharry Medical College and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center have worked together to carry out the work of the Vanderbilt-Meharry Center for AIDS Research and the mission of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance.
In a new arrangement that includes the state of Tennessee, the two institutions have recently established the Tennessee Center for AIDS Research, which will broaden the research and outreach work of the center. Late last month, officials announced that Vanderbilt University has been awarded a five-year, $7.5 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund the new research collaborative.
“The basis for having [the Tennessee] Center for AIDS Research is to create new synergy and opportunities for a research community that’s been strong in HIV research and where there’s support to take it to the next level,” said Dr. David Haas, co-director of the new center and a Vanderbilt professor of medicine, pathology, microbiology and immunology, and pharmacology.
Officials say the new center will largely focus on two goals: improve the continuum of HIV/AIDS care in Tennessee, especially in its metropolitan areas, and to advance personalized care in the treatment of HIV through basic research and clinical trials.
Haas explained that personalized care represents “a huge strength” at Vanderbilt. Personalized HIV care refers to treatment that not only takes into account genetic variations impacting patients’ response to medications, but to other medical, social and environmental factors. Continuum of care includes the interventions provided at all stages of illness that can bring about improved outcomes for patients.
In addition, expanding training and research opportunities is another center priority that researchers at Vanderbilt, Meharry and the state will see enhanced with the Developmental Core Awards. Distributed by the center annually on a competitive basis, these awards are intended to support research projects for short periods of time, generally about one year in duration.
Dr. Duane Smoot, the new center’s co-director along with Haas and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Meharry, says the involvement of the Tennessee health department raises the potential for innovative research and clinical trial work.
