Health Sciences Communications
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322

Release date: Nov. 8, 999
Contact: Holly Korschun, 404-727-3990 or hkorsch@emory.edu.

Emory Extends AIDS Research Internationally Through NIH Training Program Grant

Through its National Institutes of Health (NIH) designation as an AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP), Emory is extending its expertise in AIDS research and education to scientists in other countries.

The university's mission during the five-year AITRP program is to enhance the HIV/AIDS-related research capabilities within Mexico, Vietnam and the Republic of Georgia. Emory AITRP fellows, supported by the NIH Fogarty International Center, participate in academic courses leading to graduate degrees and postdoctoral research training at Emory. Emory scientists also provide in-country training as well as mentorship to fellows when they return to their native countries to facilitate HIV/AIDS research.

Carlos del Rio, M.D., Emory associate professor of medicine, is principal investigator for the AITRP grant and director of the program. Dr. del Rio was executive director of the National AIDS Council in Mexico (CONASIDA) before joining the Emory faculty in 1996. He also has served as director of the recently nominated Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Collaborating Center at Emory University.

"Emory already has several ongoing HIV/AIDS research and training projects in the Republic of Georgia through the Atlanta-Tbilisi partnership, and Emory AIDS investigators also are collaborators on AIDS research projects in Mexico and Vietnam," Dr. del Rio says. "Emory's Division of Infectious Diseases has developed a nationally recognized AIDS Program over recent years and will now be able to make this expertise available to investigators in developing countries where the major burden of the AIDS epidemic is occurring."

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