Project Summary/Abstract This is a critical time for behavioral science and digital health in the HIV epidemic. While significant gains have been made in diagnosis, linkage to care, and antiretroviral treatment (ART), much work remains to be done in the scale-up of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and improve upon the successes in 90-90-90 targets for people living with HIV infection. Advances in HIV care and prevention, such as antiretroviral treatment and PrEP are primarily biomedical in nature but require substantial behavioral considerations for optimal uptake. Building upon the success of the current Behavioral Science Core and the ehealth SWG, the Behavioral Innovations Core (BIC) will be located at the intersection of behavioral science and digital health, where we can engage communities to build equitable research partnerships through mutual learning and discovery. Our efforts will leverage behavioral science and digital health to improve uptake and ongoing engagement in ART and PrEP as they are introduced. Aim 1 activities describe the collaborating, convening, and communicating functions of the BIC, bringing together investigators with expertise and interest in BIC topic areas, community-based organizations (CBOs), and community members to synergize efforts and catalyze innovative research. The overarching goal of Aim 2 is to provide support, knowledge, and skills in diverse contexts to further HIV prevention and care research while addressing health equity, access, ethics and policy. Aim 3 describes research capacity strengthening activities of the BIC, which will focus on improving the research climate for investigators and research participants from diverse backgrounds, including people with disabilities and black, indigenous, and other people of color. Our core will adopt multi-level strategies, including strong community engagement strategies and mentoring of early- stage investigators, to improve the climate of research and support investigators from under-represented racial and ethnic groups. The BIC has multiple strengths that will expand and promote the research priorities of our CFAR. BIC Directors and Faculty have worked to build, implement, and examine scalable integrated intervention strategies to facilitate HIV prevention and treatment, all while paying attention to health equity and the disparities in health care access that have been prevalent for decades. The BIC is multidisciplinary, including psychologists, epidemiologists, social justice activists, health services researchers, and infectious disease physicians, with members including HIV and non-HIV researchers funded by NIH. In the next cycle, the BIC will have a strong focus on building equitable partnerships with community in order to raise community voices, support the development and advance work of individuals who represent the communities disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic, and expand HIV workforce capabilities. With continued CFAR support, we can ...