Awards totaling $15.3 million over four years have been made to five collaborative HIV/AIDS research centers, the Universitywide AIDS Research Program of the University of California Office of the President announced today (Monday).

The centers, which involve partnerships with other institutions and are scheduled to begin operation July 1, are Charles Drew University in Los Angeles, San Mateo Medical Center, UC Davis, UCLA, and UC San Diego.

In announcing the awards, University of California Vice President for Health Affairs Michael V. Drake, M.D., said, "We have a rigorous and highly competitive review process focused on determining the projects that are most likely to have the greatest positive impact on HIV/AIDS during the coming years. We are pleased at the quality of this group of awardees, and are anticipating outstanding contributions from all of them."

"These centers are strongly positioned to address the needs of persons impacted by HIV in California," said George Lemp, director of UC's systemwide AIDS research program. "The centers will provide unique opportunities for populations that have been highly impacted by HIV/AIDS to have access to advanced clinical trials, interventions and studies."

The centers are:

- The San Francisco HIV/AIDS Research Center, based at San Mateo County Medical Center in partnership with Stanford University and the San Francisco County Department of Public Health. The center's theme is the innovative application of technologies to interventions that advance HIV detection, prevention, care and treatment.

- The Los Angeles Collaborative HIV/AIDS Public Health Research Center, based at Charles Drew University, in partnership with the RAND Corp. and Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. The center will focus its efforts on responding to the needs of communities of color with the goals of promoting, conducting and supporting innovative research on community contexts and social networks that have the potential to reduce HIV-related disparities.

- The California Research Center for Biology of HIV in Minorities, based at UC Davis, in partnership with the Center for AIDS Research, Education and Services in Sacramento and the Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory of the state Department of Health Services. The center will examine differences in the mucosal immune response to HIV infection among different racial/ethnic groups and by gender with the goal of improving treatment for those populations disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in California.

- The Network for AIDS Research in Los Angeles, based at UCLA in partnership with AIDS Project Los Angeles, T.H.E. Clinic, and the Friends Research Institute. The center will support the development and evaluation of innovative strategies for the treatment and prevention of HIV infection for HIV-infected and at-risk populations in the greater Los Angeles area.

- The California Collaborative Treatment Group, based at UC San Diego, will conduct clinical trials at multiple sites to test potential improvements in antiretroviral drug regimens, as well as to gain a better understanding of the emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in HIV+ patients.

The Universitywide AIDS Research Program provides state funding for the support of merit-reviewed AIDS-related research conducted at nonprofit research institutions and community-based organizations throughout California. The program has awarded more than 1,770 research grants to more than 50 California institutions since 1983.

The program provides start-up funds for the development of cutting edge research by investigators based in California, providing critical leverage in competing for and bringing subsequent federal and private resources to the state. A 2002 survey of California investigators has found that nearly seven dollars in federal and other grant support was generated for every dollar invested by UARP in California-based research.

The new California collaborative HIV/AIDS research centers represent a major initiative for UARP, with the goal of fostering innovative research with high potential for advancing HIV/AIDS science in under-researched populations in California, to further the Universitywide AIDS Research Program's mission of accelerating progress towards prevention and a cure for AIDS.

Funding under the center initiative will provide support for both institutional research infrastructure and for substantive research studies at each center, as well as for institutional partnerships that strengthen science and expand the HIV/AIDS research capability of institutions and organizations throughout the state.