OVERALL RESEARCH PLAN PROJECT SUMMARY This renewal application for the District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR) presents the scientific and public health achievements of the DC CFAR to date, describes our unique citywide, multi- institutional model, underscores the strong leadership and administrative infrastructure upon which the CFAR is built and articulates a vision for our future scientific directions. The DC CFAR includes 227 HIV investigators from eight DC collaborating institutions – George Washington, Georgetown, Howard and American Universities, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Children's National Health System, DC Department of Health and Whitman-Walker Health. Our mission is to intensify our multi- institutional effort to promote and support research that contributes to ending the HIV epidemic in Washington, DC and beyond in partnership with government and community. Notable achievements from the previous funding period provide a strong foundation for our future, including a 46% increase in our Funded Research Base (FRB) from $11.6M in 2015 to $17.0M in 2018; over $2.8M in pilot awards granted since 2010; a 761% return on investment on completed pilot awards funded from 2010-2016; and >1,100 Core services provided and 667 HIV-related articles published by DC CFAR investigators from 2015-2019. With substantial institutional support of $2.8M over five years, and numerous scientific and programmatic innovations underway, the DC CFAR is well-positioned to respond to the critical challenges of our local epidemic. The Specific Aims of the DC CFAR are to: Aim 1: Provide scientific leadership and institutional infrastructure to advance HIV research among the eight collaborating DC CFAR institutions; Aim 2: Stimulate and support innovative and consequential HIV research in the basic, clinical, prevention and social and behavioral sciences while promoting an interdisciplinary approach to addressing the NIH high priority scientific HIV focus areas; Aim 3: Drive the development and recruitment of early stage, new, and women and underrepresented minority HIV investigators; and Aim 4: Enhance communication and foster meaningful new collaborations between DC CFAR investigators and academic, government, community and clinical partners. To achieve these aims, the DC CFAR supports five Cores: Administrative to provide scientific leadership and fiscal oversight; Developmental to oversee the pilot awards and mentoring programs; and Basic Sciences, Clinical and Population Sciences, and Social and Behavioral Sciences to provide services to support innovative and multi-disciplinary HIV research. Lastly, the DC CFAR supports two Scientific Working Groups – HIV Cure and the Ending the HIV Epidemic – to galvanize research in these high priority areas.