Congratulations, Class of 2023!

Students and trainees are important contributors to research projects across the CFAR. Congratulations to those graduating this weekend!

News from the CFAR

Volunteer with the Duke Collaborative Community Council (D3C) June 3rd for their first outreach event!

The Duke Collaborative Community Council (D3C) was formed to support the Duke CFAR in community-centered research and outreach activities. The D3C is made up of community members across Durham, the Triangle, and other parts of North Carolina who are living with HIV, receive PrEP, or are closely engaged with services related to HIV care and prevention or supporting the wellbeing of people living with HIV.

The D3C will hold their first community outreach event on Saturday, June 3rd from 11:30am - 2:30pm at CAARE (214 Broadway St, Durham, NC 27701). The family-friendly, inclusive event will be free and open to the public and will have tables from groups representing community-based organizations, healthcare providers, and social services, as well as entertainment (including a DJ and bounce house) and food.

The D3C is need of volunteers to help with set-up for the event and preparation of food bags for distribution (starting at 9am), support during the event, and clean-up after the event. If you are available to help for any amount of time, please contact Lizzy Knippler at elizabeth.knippler@duke.edu. This is a great opportunity to meet our incredible D3C members and to connect with our local Durham community!

The D3C is also looking for organizations/groups who might be interested in setting up a table at the event. They are hoping to have a wide range of organizations represented, but have expressed a particular interest in resources related to mental health, housing, and sexual health. There is no cost to be a vendor at the event. The D3C is also looking for donations of items to raffle off, such as gift cards from local businesses. If you have any connections, please reach out!

Stay tuned for a flyer with full event information to share.

As part of their mission, the D3C is able to provide consultations to CFAR research teams to give feedback on grant proposal development or activities related to implementation of research projects. Please contact Lizzy Knippler for more information or to schedule time with the D3C.

The Duke CFAR recognizes National Nurses Week

May 6th-12th is National Nurses Week. Nurses play a critical role in healthcare delivery in the U.S. and globally, comprising the largest healthcare workforce and ranked as the most trusted profession in the U.S. In recognition of National Nurses Week, we wanted to highlight articles showcasing the invaluable role of nurses in HIV prevention and care, and the important work of our CFAR colleagues in the School of Nursing:

Duke School of Nursing Faculty Showcase the Important Role of Nurses in HIV Prevention and Treatment

Across the Duke University School of Nursing, faculty are designing nurse-led health care interventions and solutions that reduce health inequity among people living with HIV. Read the profiles of six DUSON faculty conducting vital research related to HIV/AIDS: Brandon Knettel, PhD; Schenita D. Randolph, PhD, MPH, RN, CNE; Ragan Johnson, DNP, MS, APRN-BC; Marta Mulawa, PhD, MHS; Michael V. Relf, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, AACRN, ANEF, CNE, FAAN; and Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, MPH, LCSW, RN, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAAN.

School of Nursing Advanced Practice Nursing Specialty Expands Essential Services to Those with HIV

The Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) HIV Specialty, a distance-learning program for nurse practitioners, is helping to address a looming shortage of HIV-specific care providers and equips NPs with the skills to address the comprehensive needs of people living with HIV. Learn more about the program from Kara McGee, DMSc PA-C, AAHIVS, associate professor and lead faculty of DUSON’s HIV specialty program.  

Faculty Member Receives $100K to support the Development of a Black Nurse Scientist Mentoring Program

Schenita Randolph, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, director and principal investigator of the HEEAT Research Lab, and Fellow in the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Leaders and Innovators, was awarded funding by the Gordon & Betty Irene Moore Foundation that will address underrepresentation of Black nurse leaders and scientists in research. Learn more about the proposal and the importance of increasing the number of Black nurse scientists who will transform health and advance equity through research, leadership, and innovation.

Future Nurses Embrace Global Health Experience

Duke’s Graduate Certificate in Global Health offers a path for students in nursing and other fields to gain global health perspectives. Read about student experiences and hear from Michael Relf, Ph.D., associate dean for global and community health affairs at the Duke School of Nursing on the value of global health experience for nursing students.

TOMORROW: CFAR-Wide ESI HIV Cure Webinar - Long-term, vectored delivery of neutralizing antibodies: the search for a one-shot cure against HIV



Thursday, May 11, 2023 | 12-1pm | Zoom

The next CFAR-Wide ESI HIV Cure webinar will be held from 12-1 pm EST on Thursday May 11^th.

Topic: Long-term, vectored delivery of neutralizing antibodies: the search for a one-shot cure against HIV

Speaker: Jose Martinez-Navio, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

The purpose of this webinar is to bring together diverse ESI researchers to share knowledge and to promote collaboration. We encourage participation from all investigators, especially those more advanced in the field who can provide guidance and serve as mentors. Registration is required.

Register for the webinar.

Infectious Diseases Grand Rounds presented by Dr. Charlie Burns - Pharmacist Driven PrEP: The Next Frontier



Monday, May 15, 2023 | 12-1pm | Room 131, Hanes House & Zoom

Speaker: Charles Burns, M.D.

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases

Duke University Medical Center

“Pharmacist Driven PrEP: The Next Frontier”

Zoom Link | Meeting ID: 986 9230 4999 | Password: 136560

Climate Change & Immune Health Mini-Symposium - Register by May 25th

Monday, June 5, 2023 | 12-6pm | Penn Pavilion

Registration is now open for the upcoming Climate Change and Immune Health Mini-Symposium, hosted by the Duke Center for Human Systems Immunology at Penn Pavilion on Monday, June 5th. This event will serve as an opportunity for the Duke community, and the scientific community at large, to gather and present compelling data, as well as express our shared commitment to improving health outcomes related to a varied and changing climate. The deadline for registration is May 25th.

Learn more and register for the event.

7th Translational HIV Vaccine Early Stage Investigator (ESI) Conference 



October 9-10, 2023 | Davis, California

The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) will host the 7th Translational HIV Vaccine Early Stage Investigator (ESI) Conference October 9-10, 2023 at the University of California Conference Center in Davis, CA, just before the NHP AIDS Symposium.

This conference is intended for early stage investigators who focus on translational or preclinical HIV vaccine research in non-human primates (NHPs), or clinical HIV vaccine research.

Registration application for the HVTN Translational HIV Vaccine ESI Conference is now open through August 25, 2023! Travel award applications are due July 7^th.

Learn more about the conference.

Register for the CFAR Symposium on Statistics and Data Science in HIV

June 5 & 6, 2023 | Providence, Rhode Island

Research in HIV continues to generate highly complex data structures. Examples include genomic sequences (both host and virus); individual medical records, which include such complications as irregular measurement, missing data, and unstructured text fields; medical images; social network data; and aggregated ‘super cohorts’ such as those coordinated by the IeDEA and CNICS consortia. Even the design and analysis of randomized trials require innovative techniques to enable optimal use of data that can be expensive and labor-intensive to collect.

This symposium is designed to bring together statistical and data science researchers either working directly in the area of HIV or whose work has direct relevance to problems and data structures encountered in HIV research. We are particularly interested in engaging data science researchers in fields such as computer science, engineering, and applied mathematics, whose work in related areas might lead to innovative new approaches.

Participants will gather for focused activities related to dissemination of new methods, formation of new collaborations, extended discussion to identify new challenges, and engagement of junior investigators. Finally, owing to investments by NIH and other funding agencies, the number of HIV-focused statisticians and data scientists from low- and middle-income countries is growing. The symposium also is designed to promote continued engagement between statistical scientists from the ‘global north’ and ‘global south’.



• The symposium will feature invited talks and panels focused on HIV data science research and training.
• All sessions will be non-concurrent.
• Attendees are invited to present posters on development or application of statistical or data science methods that are relevant to HIV research
• Junior researchers are especially encouraged to attend, and can apply for funding to partially defray the cost of travel.
• Registration is Free

Please note that junior researchers are encouraged to attend and can apply for funding to partially defray the cost of travel.

Learn more and register.

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