Texas Center for AIDS Research

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY – TEXAS CENTER FOR AIDS RESEARCH In 2019, the US announced a plan to End the HIV Epidemic by 2030. To be successful, strategies that improve HIV prevention and HIV treatment outcomes are needed. Only 58% of people with HIV (PWH) were virally suppressed in 2023, a critical determinant of health outcomes and transmission risk, and 52% of HIV diagnoses in 2023 were in the US South, despite constituting only 38% of the population in the US. More people were diagnosed with HIV in Texas than in any other state in 2022. Unfortunately, this large Texas population lags in critical HIV-related health outcomes. There is an urgent need for more research and research infrastructure to combat the HIV epidemic in the US South and specifically in Texas to both contribute to ending the US HIV epidemic and to learn how to best do that in resource constrained areas of the US. In 2021, Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute were collectively funded as the Texas Developmental Center for AIDS Research (D-CFAR). The Texas D-CFAR made a substantial impact in HIV research in Texas, having increased the funded research base of the D-CFAR partner institutions from $12.2M in 2021 to $22.2M in 2024. Its members have published 388 HIV-related papers since 2021. Its pilot grant program has a return on investment of $13 in subsequent grant funding for every $1 invested in the pilot program to date. Based on these results, the partner institutions will form the Texas CFAR, and will continue its research theme, “Ending HIV and Optimizing HIV Health in Texas and Beyond.” To accomplish its goals, the Texas CFAR will: 1) Provide organizational and financial management and facilitate activities and programs that strengthen and enrich the CFAR research and intellectual environment; 2) Support targeted high-priority interdisciplinary pilot research projects, assist in responding to new HIV-related research initiatives, and facilitate research on ending HIV and improving health of PWH in Texas and beyond; and 3) Provide state-of-the-art expertise, advice, and services to facilitate the range of HIV-related research for CFAR investigators. The Texas CFAR will support an Administrative Core, a Developmental Core, an Advanced Technology Core, a Clinical and Biostatistics Core, and a Community Engagement Research Core to meet investigator needs and catalyze innovative research. The scientific Cores will build on outstanding strengths in virology, non-human primate resources, clinical trials research and biostatistics. The Texas CFAR has the consistent support of a Community Engagement Board and Internal and External Advisory Boards for guidance. The CFAR will continue to energize new research and collaborations among basic, translational, clinical, health services, implementation science, public health, and community researchers. The Texas CFAR will continue to transform research in HIV in Texas, train the next generation of HIV scientists, and gain knowledge needed to improve the health of people with or at high risk for HIV in Texas and similar areas, contributing to ending the HIV epidemic in Texas, the U.S. South, and beyond.