The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) CFAR's Prevention Core (PC) aims to sustain a culture and community that broadens and strengthens existing professional networks, transcends the practical and theoretical silos that increasingly defined HIV research at Johns Hopkins and support collaborative, innovative HIV preventive investigation by identifying the barriers to collaboration that exist at an individual, network and system level and deliberately employ a series of mechanisms, including events and programs, to spark innovation, collaboration, and discourse among colleagues with disparate expertise and experience. The JHU PC will invest considerable resources into identifying the overall and specific needs of early stage investigator (ESI) faculty using surveys, brown bag lunch meetings, one-on-one conversations and sustained mentoring. The PC offers ESI faculty comprehensive, responsive, and rapid guidance that acknowledges shifting NIH priorities and emerging scientific findings along with mentorship and opportunities to establish independent NIH research careers