December 15, 2008 (Updated 12/19)

• A. CIRA SPONSORED AIDS SEMINARS
• B. CIRA MEETINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
• C. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. CIRA SPONSORED AIDS SEMINARS

1. AIDS Science Day 2009
   Date: Wednesday, 04/01/09
   Abstract Submission and Online Registration are now available. You are invited to submit an abstract for an oral or poster presentation, to register a community booth, and/or to register for AIDS Science Day 2009.
   
   Conference Registration (Deadline: Friday, March 13, 2009)
   Complete the registration section of the on-line Abstract Submission/Conference Registration form.
   
   Submitting Abstracts (Deadline: Monday, January 5, 2009)
   In order to submit an abstract, complete the on-line Abstract Submission/Conference Registration form. You will automatically be registered for the conference if you submit an abstract. Indicate whether you prefer your abstract to be considered for an oral or a poster presentation. Instructions immediately after that.
   
   Registering a Community Booth (Deadline: Monday, February 2, 2009)
   In addition to poster and oral presentations, we will be including community booths in AIDS Science Day to increase the visibility among researchers and students at Yale of community based organizations (CBOs) and AIDS service organizations (ASOs). The booth registration form is available online to download and complete as a word document. Please complete the form and submit it electronically (preferably) to Michelle Gardin or via fax (203-764-4353). Upon registration of a booth, the contact person indicated on the booth registration form will be registered for the conference automatically. You may also use this form to register others from your organization who will assist in your booth.
   
   Special Student Abstract Competition (Deadline: Monday, January 5, 2009)
   Students may submit abstracts for poster presentations. As in past years, in order to encourage student submissions, we will hold a special competition. The student who submits the best poster abstract will be asked to present her/his paper on one of the panel sessions. Please note that in order to be considered for the student prize, you must be planning to attend the conference. Students can submit abstracts and registrations using the same on-line Abstract Submission/Conference Registration form, indicating their student status.
   
   There is no charge for attending AIDS Science Day 2009, but you must register.

B. CIRA MEETINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. CANCELED DUE TO IMPENDING WEATHER! Clinical and Health Services Research (CHSR) Core Meeting
   Date/Time: 12/19/08, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
   Location: LEPH Basement, 60 College Street, New Haven CT

C. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. NEW! CALL FOR PAPERS Theme Issue -- Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) Manuscripts due: April 1, 2009
   
   AIDS Education and Prevention: An Interdisciplinary Journal issues a Call for Papers for a regular theme issue to be published in December 2009. The goal of this Theme Issue is to provide a diverse audience - including researchers; representatives from health departments, other governmental agencies, and community-based organizations (CBOs), such as AIDS service organizations (ASOs), religious groups, coalition members and others – with a comprehensive resource on the application of Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) within HIV prevention, care, and treatment. Given that a hallmark of CBPR is action, special focus will be given to intervention research that have been developed, implemented, and/or evaluated by community-research partnerships. These interventions may address the wide spectrum of HIV, including, but not limited to, individual-level, structural, social network, and policy interventions. Original manuscripts can be submitted that fit in any of the following categories: Original Research, Work-in-Progress and Lessons Learned, Community Perspectives, Links among Research, Policy and Practice, Blending of Community and Scientific Perspectives, Theory and Methods, Education and Training, Practical Tools and Systematic Reviews.
   Instructions for specific types of manuscripts and previous content (some full text links) can be found here. Manuscripts will be initially reviewed by the Guest Editors before being sent to the peer-reviewers using a blind review process.
   
   Contact: Please submit all manuscripts to the Managing Editor of this Theme Issue, Ms. Cindy Miller, by e-mail at: cytmill@wfubmc.edu. Authors will receive confirmation of submission within 2 weeks of their submission being received. Questions about submissions should be electronically sent to one of the Guest Editors: Dr. Rhodes (srhodes@wfubmc.edu), Dr. Malow (rmalow@bellsouth.net), or Ms. Jolly (cjolly@aidscareservice.org).
2. NIH Announces the Availability of Adobe-Based Grant Application Forms (NOT-OD-09-026)
   
   The purpose of this notice is to alert users to the availability of the first set of Adobe-based grant application forms to transition from PureEdge-based forms.
   In November 2008, NIH released details about its plan to transition to new electronic Adobe-based grant application forms (Guide Notice NOT-OD-09-020). Users were informed that NIH is moving forward with the transition as scheduled and that the Adobe-based forms would be made available after December 5, 2008.
   Adobe-based application forms are now available for most funding opportunities; the rest will have the new forms added by early next week. Applicants should return to the FOA for which they are applying and download the new forms. Applicants can confirm that they are downloading the new Adobe forms by verifying that the Competition ID on the Download Application page of the Grants.gov Web site is "ADOBE-FORMS-A".
   REMEMBER: A Grants.gov compatible version of Adobe Reader is required to prepare and submit an Adobe-based application. (Grants.gov currently recommends Adobe Reader versions 8.1.3 or higher; compatible versions are listed on the Grants.gov Download Software page and are updated as they are produced.). The Grants.gov compatible version of Adobe Reader must be installed BEFORE downloading the new application forms.
   NIH will continue to make information available on the Adobe Transition Resources page of the eSubmission Web site.
   
   For more information go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-026.html.
3. Rethinking HIV Prevention Strategy: Debating What Works
   
   A video of the presentation that took place on October 24, 2008 at NYU featuring Dr. Daniel Halperin is now available at: http://netvideo.nyu.edu:8080/ramgen/nyutv/20081024_GPH_RethinkingHIVPrevention.rm If you have any problems with access contact: Zach Maggio, zm10@nyu.edu.
   Since the eruption of the HIV pandemic over two decades ago, global public health experts have long advocated for a few major approaches in preventing the spread of the deadly disease. Billions of dollars have been poured into these efforts, led by multilateral organizations like the United Nations and financially backed by governments worldwide. Now, a group of researchers and scientists are saying that recent evidence shows that some of these long held prevention strategies just don't work very well. What doesn't work and what would work better when it comes to preventing the spread of HIV, especially in Africa?
   Speakers: Dr. Daniel Halperin, Senior Research Scientist and Lecturer on International Health in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard University. Joining Dr. Halperin is Dr. Bill Easterly, Professor of Economics at New York University, co-Director of NYU's Development Research Institute, and Dr. Helen Epstein, noted public health specialist and author of The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West and the Fight Against AIDS.
4. CALL FOR ABSTRACTS! North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit - Mobilizing Knowledge: Housing is HIV Prevention and Care, June 3 - 5, 2009
   Abstract Deadline: Abstracts are due January 15, 2009, and notification of acceptance will be emailed no later than March 6, 2009.
   
   The US National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC), working in collaboration with the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) and the Department of Health, Behavior and Society of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, announce the fourth Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit, a meeting of leading health, housing and social service researchers and policy makers, to be held at the Double Tree Hotel Crystal City, Washington, DC. The Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit series is an interdisciplinary, interactive forum for the presentation of research findings on the relationship of housing status and HIV prevention and care, coupled with dialogue on public policy implications and strategies among researchers, policy makers, and providers and consumers of HIV housing and services. The theme of Summit IV is Examining the Evidence: The Impact of Housing on HIV Prevention and Care, and the conveners invite abstracts presenting the results of scientific research, program evaluation, community-based interventions, and public policy strategies that reflect this theme. Both research and policy abstracts are encouraged, and abstracts may be submitted for oral or poster presentations. Conference fees will be waived for presenting authors.
   The North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit IV Call for Abstracts is available at: http://www.nationalaidshousing.org/PDF/CFA.pdf. Questions can be directed to nahc@nationalaidshousing.org.
5. CDC's 2009-2011 DHAP/ORISE Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships for HIV Prevention in Communities of Color
   
   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) proudly announces that it is offering four two-year post-doctoral research fellowships--the 2009-2011 DHAP/ORISE Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships for HIV Prevention in Communities of Color. The mission of this fellowship program is to recruit, mentor, and train recently graduated doctoral-level researchers (with doctorates earned no earlier than May 2004 and no later than May 2009) in conducting research leading to the prevention of HIV infection in communities of color in the United States. The fellowships will begin August 1, 2009, and end August 1, 2011; the fellows will be located in various branches in DHAP at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, GA. Applications will be accepted from November 1, 2008 until December 31, 2008. More information about these fellowships and their application procedures and materials may be found at this Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/aboutdhap/orise/.