Director's Message
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates that more than 42 million people are living with the HIV virus, often in developing regions of the world. With U.S troops deployed around the world, it is our mission to both protect U.S. military personnel and serve the international community by reducing risk of HIV-1 infection.
USMHRP defines the HIV epidemic in terms of military impact and is an important partner in international efforts to combat this devastating disease. Vaccine research and development, informed by basic and translational immunology, virology, molecular biology and epidemiology, is the Program's main thrust. We are advancing candidate vaccines in the field and are increasing understanding of what will be required to develop a globally effective, preventive HIV vaccine.
USMHRP is extremely proud of its comprehensive HIV prevention, care and treatment programs in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria, which are primarily supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The Program philosophy is firmly anchored on the premise that HIV prevention, care, and treatment must be available to all potential research volunteers and their families in order to execute an ethical, sustainable and non-coercive research program in resource-limited environments.
The link between care and treatment and HIV vaccine research provides a powerful synergy between research and clinical programs. This programmatic duality has enabled the creation of centers of excellence (COE) in both rural and urban areas of very poor countries in Africa. These COEs are recognized as leaders in both comprehensive HIV public health and HIV/AIDS medicine, as well as HIV research. This model, based on the co-location of quality clinical and research capacities found at major U.S. medical centers, provides ethical parity between research executed in Africa and in the developed world.
Forging international partnerships and maintaining a vast multi-site clinical trials program is exceptionally challenging. The Program builds on the DoD's successful history of extensive medical research programs, which have resulted in the development of preventive vaccines to protect both military and civilian populations from a variety of threats. The U.S. Military HIV Research Program will continue this tradition of excellence in its ongoing efforts to develop effective vaccine strategies to control the global HIV pandemic.