Einstein and Montefiore are located in the Bronx, a New York City borough which was an initial epicenter for the emergence of the HIV epidemic particularly in intravenous drug users, women and children and which remains at the leading edge of the AIDS epidemic. As of 2010, more than 23,000 HIV-infected individuals live in the Bronx, of whom almost 40% were women and over 85% were Black or Hispanic. Over 25% of HIV-infected Bronx residents are unaware they are infected and many do not learn they are HIV-infected until they present with full-blown AIDS. Transmission through injection drug use and heterosexual activity are the dominant risk factors for HIV infection in our Bronx community, a pattern that has persisted since the onset of the epidemic over thirty years ago. The local epidemic in the Bronx continues to predominantly affect the groups that have borne a disproportionate burden of this disease from the start: people of color, women, substance users, people with mental health disorders, men who have sex with men, and persons of low socioeconomic status.
The Einstein-Montefiore Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) currently coordinates basic and translational research programs focused on a variety of aspects of the HIV infection and its sequela involving more than 100 NIH-funded faculty members from 15 basic and clinical departments at Einstein and Montefiore Medical Center. The Einstein-Montefiore CFAR oversees eight core facilities, providing technologies and services in support of basic science, translational and clinical research activities at the center. More information about the NIH’s CFAR program, Einstein-Montefiore CFAR, Einstein-Montefiore AIDS investigators and their research programs, the Einstein NIH-funded AIDS training program and useful research links can be found by clicking on the links above.
The research interests of the Einstein-Montefiore CFAR members are highly diverse and include molecules, intracellular organelles, cells, tissues, pre-clinical animal model studies, patient-based clinical and translational research and research in health care outcomes and adherence related to HIV/AIDS. Through its strategic planning process, the Einstein-Montefiore CFAR has identified a set of eight specific aims by which to frame its overarching goals of supporting, driving, and expanding research at Einstein that focuses on tackling emerging scientific questions at the cutting-edge of HIV/AIDS research as well as an approach to deploy CFAR resources to implement each specific aim.
- To provide scientific leadership and an Institutional infrastructure across basic science and clinical departments to actively stimulate interdisciplinary, collaborative and translational research among basic science, epidemiological, clinical and behavioral investigators.
- To establish and maintain shared scientific Core facilities to stimulate innovative multidisciplinary research and enable Einstein-Montefiore CFAR investigators to efficiently and economically utilize the unique services required for HIV research.
- To engage with the Bronx community to identify approaches that optimize diagnosis, treatment and prevention of HIV infection, particularly in the underserved populations with limited access to care who are at high risk for reduced treatment compliance and increased infection rates.
- To support translational studies that investigate the unique issues associated with prevention, transmission, treatment and disease course of HIV infection in women.
- To investigate the role of co-infection with other pathogens such as Mtb, HCV and HPV on the diagnosis, treatment and course of HIV infection in both women and men.
- To stimulate scientific collaborations that will accelerate HIV-related discoveries by establishing novel thematic interdisciplinary research groups, and that will engage established scientists with the mission of CFAR.
- To provide intellectual, technical and financial support to mentor and advance the careers of the next generation of HIV/AIDS MD, PhD, and MD/PhD investigators.
- To support the capacity of international sites to develop and expand indigenous research, prevention and treatment programs by sharing the knowledge and expertise gained by Einstein and Montefiore AIDS researchers who care for the diverse underserved, hard-to-reach and marginalized HIV-infected and at-risk population in the Bronx.
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