The District of Columbia Clinical Trials Unit (DC CTU), a collaboration between the George Washington University (GW) and Whitman Walker Institute (WWI), was selected by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) as one of 35 HIV CTUs based at both U.S. and international institutions.
The $8.4 million, seven‐year NIAID award is part of a significant investment in infrastructure and expertise in support of HIV/AIDS clinical trials, and establishes the DC CTU as a regionally focused clinical research unit designed to address the HIV epidemic in the nation’s capital.
The DC CTU is led principal investigators Manya Magnus, professor and associate chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Milken Institute School of Public Health; Gary Simon, professor and vice chair of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences Department of Medicine, and director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at The GW Medical Faculty Associates (GW MFA); and Sarah Henn, chief medical officer for Whitman Walker Health (WWH).
“Achieving a durable end to the HIV pandemic will require continued development of new HIV prevention and treatment strategies, as well as optimal implementation of existing tools,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, in a statement announcing the grants. “The new network structure will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of NIH’s HIV clinical trial operations to expediently address the critical research questions that will bring us closer to this goal, while always ensuring the safety of clinical trial participants.”
According to the NIAID, the streamlined network structure will reduce administrative and oversight costs, allowing more funds to be allocated to clinical trials to advance four key areas of research emphasis: HIV prevention; HIV vaccines; HIV/AIDS adult therapeutics; and HIV/AIDS maternal, adolescent and pediatric therapeutics. The 35 CTUs will provide scientific and administrative expertise, as well as the infrastructure to conduct clinical trials within the networks. Collectively, the CTUs will support 101 clinical research sites in 18 countries across North America, South America, Africa and Asia.