# PITT AIDS Research Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $231,132

## Abstract

Project Summary
Despite significant advances in the HIV/AIDS research effort, particularly in the development of potent
antiretroviral drugs, the AIDS epidemic remains a major global public health problem. Therapeutic regimens
have greatly improved in recent years and for those populations with access to combination antiretroviral
therapy (cART), HIV-1 infection is treatable as a chronic infection. Nonetheless, there remains a strong need
to invest in research focused on HIV/AIDS and to train young investigators entering the field. Problems that
remain in dealing with this epidemic are formidable. We do not have an effective vaccine against HIV-1 nor do
we have an effective microbicidal strategy. Drug resistance to cART is an ongoing clinical challenge. Despite
the efficacy of cART in most individuals, a long-lived viral reservoir persists, and efforts to reactive this
reservoir and reveal it to an effective immune response have been challenging. It is imperative that the next
generation of researchers studying HIV/AIDS be trained in interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to
combat the immunodeficiency caused by infection, and the global impact of the epidemic. These scientists
need to focus on new and emerging areas of HIV research recently identified by the NIH as research priorities,
including research to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS and research towards a cure; understanding and
controlling HIV comorbidities and coinfections; as well as basic biology of HIV transmission and pathogenesis.
The Pitt AIDS Research Training (PART) Program was established to train predoctoral students to perform
high-quality research on HIV/AIDS at these interfaces, en route to postdoctoral and independent investigator
positions. In this proposal we seek to renew the funding for the PART Program for another five-year
period under the new leadership of Dr. Phalguni Gupta, an experienced retrovirologist, and Dr. Simon Barratt-
Boyes, a respected immunologist. The PART Program is in the midst of its 10th year and has been very
successful to date, having supported the training of 30 predoctoral students who have published 115 papers as
PART trainees. This foundation of success and productivity will serve as the basis for extending and improving
the PART Program to continue to train excellent, well-rounded investigators in cutting-edge HIV/AIDS research
to meet today’s needs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9950967
- **Project number:** 5T32AI065380-15
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Simon M Barratt-Boyes
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $231,132
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2005-09-01 → 2021-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9950967

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9950967, PITT AIDS Research Training Program (5T32AI065380-15). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9950967. Licensed CC0.

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