[ACE Membership Roster] [ACE Meeting Rosters]

The AIDS Clinical Studies and Epidemiology [ACE] Study Section reviews applications dealing with clinical and epidemiological aspects of HIV/AIDS in US and international settings. Specific areas covered by ACE are:

• Natural history and Cohort studies, incidence and prevalence of AIDS and associated disorders.
• Transmission of HIV infection in defined cohorts and prevention measures.
• Clinical studies that address diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS and associated complications.
• Clinical studies that address mechanisms of HIV pathogenesis, and disease progression.
• Metabolic and cardiovascular consequences of HAART in aging HIV/AIDS populations.
• Hepatitis C virus in association with drug abuse/addiction in inner city populations.
• TB and IRIS in Africa.
• Mother to child transmission/prevention in Africa.
• Development of clinical diagnostics in resource poor settings.
• Development of biostatistical tools for AIDS clinical trials.
• Mathematical modeling of viral infection, transmission, and disease progression.

The study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS (BSCH)
AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis (AIP)
Behavioral and Social Science Strategies to Preventing HIV/AIDS (BSPH)
NeuroAIDS and other End-organ Diseases (NAED)
AIDS Molecular and Cellular Biology (AMCB)

[ADDT Membership Roster] [ADDT Meeting Rosters]

The AIDS Discovery and Development of Therapeutics [ADDT] Study Section reviews applications on the design, discovery, and development of therapeutics for HIV and AIDS-related diseases.  Proposed agents that inhibit the viral lifecycle may include conventional pharmacotherapies, natural products, gene-based strategies, and microbicides. Specific areas covered by ADDT are:

• Development of targeted screens for new inhibitors of HIV/AIDS.
• Identification and characterization of natural products for prevention or therapy of HIV/AIDS.
• Pre-clinical development of drugs, formulations, and delivery vehicles for HIV/AIDS therapy.
• Design and development of gene-based therapies and vectors for HIV/AIDS.
• Mechanisms of drug action and viral drug resistance.
• Pharmacology of drugs and formulations for HIV/AIDS.
• Discovery and development of microbicides to prevent HIV transmission.
• Computational modeling and structure-assisted design of anti-HIV/AIDS agents.
• Animal and tissue models for assessing delivery and efficacy of anti HIV/AIDS therapies.

The study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

AIDS Molecular and Cellular Biology (AMCB)
AIDS-associated Opportunistic Infections and Cancer (AOIC)
HIV/AIDS Vaccines Study Section (VACC)
AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis (AIP)
AIDS Clinical Studies and Epidemiology (ACE)

[AIP Membership Roster] [AIP Meeting Rosters]

The AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis [AIP] Study Section reviews applications on the host immune responses to and pathogenesis of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and related retroviruses that cause immunodeficiencies including, but not limited to, simian immunodeficiency virus and feline immunodeficiency virus. This Study Section also reviews studies on sexual transmission and mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Specific areas covered by AIP are:

• Innate, cellular, and humoral immune responses.
• Immunological studies of transmission, initiation, and establishment of infection.
• Mechanisms of host immune dysfunction.
• Mechanisms of viral evasion of host immunity.
• Viral and host determinants of HIV pathogenesis.
• Animal models for HIV transmission, pathogenesis, and immunity.

The study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

HIV/AIDS Vaccines Study Section (VACC)
NeuroAIDS and other End Organ Diseases (NAED)
AIDS Clinical Studies and Epidemiology (ACE)
AIDS Molecular and Cellular Biology (AMCB)
AIDS Discovery and Development of Therapeutics (ADDT)

[AMCB Membership Roster] [AMCB Meeting Rosters]

The AIDS Molecular and Cellular Biology [AMCB] Study Section reviews applications concerned with the molecular biology, cellular biology, structural biology, virology and genetics of HIV and related lentiviruses involving biochemical, pathophysiological and structural approaches. Emphasis is on molecular structure-function approaches to elucidating virus and host mechanisms of interaction and regulation. Specific areas covered by AMCB are:

• Role of host gene products in virus infection and replication including HIV host restriction factor interactions.
• Mechanisms of viral evolution and fitness and mechanisms of host resistance with an emphasis on virus-host cell responses.
• Structure-function studies of virus and host gene products and their mechanisms of interaction.
• Molecular and biochemical mechanisms of virus entry, genome integration, proviral transcription, and viral particle assembly and release.
• Viral pathogenesis studies in animal models with an emphasis on non primate models.

Study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis (AIP)
AIDS Discovery and Development of Therapeutics (ADDT)
NeuroAIDS and other End Organ Diseases (NAED)

[AOIC Membership Roster] [AOIC Meeting Rosters]

The AIDS-associated Opportunistic Infections and Cancer [AOIC] Study Section reviews applications on opportunistic infections and cancers associated with HIV and AIDS. The science encompasses pathogenesis, immune responses, animal models, and molecular characterization of AIDS-associated opportunistic infections and cancers. Proposals should address opportunistic infections in the context of HIV infection/AIDS. Specific areas covered by AOIC are:

• Molecular, cellular, and tissue-based studies of pathogenesis of AIDS-associated opportunistic infections, including viral pathogens, interactions among multiple pathogens and animal models of AIDS-associated opportunistic infections.
• Studies of HIV/AIDS-associated cancers, including animal models.
• Immunology of AIDS-associated opportunistic infections.
• Discovery/identification of therapeutic targets for AIDS-associated opportunistic infections.

Study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

AIDS Discovery and Development of Therapeutics (ADDT)
AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis (AIP)
AIDS Clinical Studies and Epidemiology (ACE)

[BSCH Membership Roster] [BSCH Meeting Rosters]

Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS [BSCH] Study Section reviews studies of behavioral and psychosocial aspects of HIV infection, the effectiveness of interventions, the consequences of infection, and the effects of HIV infection and AIDS on the individual, family, and community. In addition, it reviews health services and other social science research of psychosocial factors of HIV disease. Specific areas covered by BSCH are:

• Effectiveness of intervention strategies to reduce HIV risk behaviors; interventions to prevent social stigmatization of children and adults; caregiving and family-based studies.
• Effects of HIV infection and AIDS on behavioral, cognitive, and social functioning; depression and other psychiatric disorders, and substance abuse; quality of life; educational products and programs.
• Behavioral and social aspects of recruitment, retention, and adherence; qualitative and quantitative assessment of behavioral and social factors associated with HIV infection and disease progression.  
• Health services, including caregiving, access, utilization, linkage, cost effectiveness, and economics.

Study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

Behavioral and Social Science Strategies to Preventing HIV/AIDS (BSPH)
AIDS Clinical Studies and Epidemiology (ACE)
NeuroAIDS and other End Organ Diseases (NAED)   

[BSPH Membership Roster] [BSPH Meeting Rosters]

The Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS [BSPH] Study Section reviews studies of risk factors and antecedents of HIV infection as well as basic behavioral, epidemiologic, and social science studies of mechanisms and factors at the individual and community levels.  Specific areas covered by the BSPH are:

• Development and testing of interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS risk behaviors.
• Epidemiological and ethnographic studies of HIV risk among the seriously mentally ill and other vulnerable populations, such as the homeless, prisoners, and chronic substance abusers.
• Multidisciplinary studies of epidemiology and/or interventions with predominantly behavioral/psychological outcomes as well as some standard biological outcomes.
• Studies to increase Recruitment, retention, and adherence in clinical/cohort settings.

Study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS (BSCH)
AIDS Clinical Studies and Epidemiology (ACE)

[NAED Membership Roster] [NAED Meeting Rosters]

The NAED Study Section reviews applications on the effects of HIV/AIDS on the nervous system and other organs systems, as well as the biological effects of drug abuse in the context of HIV/AIDS. Emphasis is on the basic biological and mechanistic studies, rather than clinical aspects. Specific areas covered by NAED are:

• Neurovirology, neuroimmunology, neuroendocrinology, behavioral immunology, and neuroimaging related to pathogenesis of HIV (and related retroviruses).
• Cell and molecular biology of HIV in CNS and other non-lymphoid organ systems.
• Physiology and cell biology of cytokine-hormonal interactions in CNS and other end-organ disease in AIDS.
• Studies of effects of used and abused substances and neuroactive drugs on establishment of infection, immunopathogenesis, neuropathogenesis, and HIV disease progression.
• Studies of HIV-induced cardiomyopathy, renal disease, pulmonary dysfunction and other end-organ pathology

Study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis (AIP)
AIDS Clinical Studies and Epidemiology (ACE)
Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS (BSCH)

[VACC Membership Roster] [VACC Meeting Rosters]

The HIV/AIDS Vaccines [VACC] Study Section reviews applications concerned with all aspects of development of vaccines against HIV and related retroviruses. The specific topics covered by VACC are:

• Identification of potential vaccine epitopes or immunogens.
• Design and development of different types of candidate immunogens.
• Delivery and formulation approaches, including use of live attenuated vectors and  novel adjuvants,  to target specific immune responses or augment immunogenicity.
• New and improved methodologies to assess vaccine–induced immune responses, including the development or improvement of animal models for vaccine testing.
• Assessment of safety, efficacy and correlates of protection of candidate vaccines in animal models and humans.

Study sections with most closely related areas of similar science listed in rank order are:

AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis (AIP)
AIDS Molecular and Cellular Biology (AMCB)
AIDS Clinical Studies and Epidemiology (ACE)

[AARR Fellowship SEPs]

All AIDS and AIDS-Related Fellowship activities are reviewed in non-recurring Special Emphasis Panels [AARR Fellowship SEPs].

[AARR Small Business SEPs]

The AIDS and AIDS-Related Research Small Business Activities Special Emphasis Panels [AARR Small Business SEPs] review small business applications including Small Business Innovation Research [SBIR] and Small Business Technology Transfer [STTR] grant applications concerned with biological sciences, vaccine research, and social/behavioral sciences in the area of HIV/AIDS. Due to the very small number of applications received each round, the small business applications dealing with HIV vaccine research are reviewed in the HIV/AIDS Vaccines Study Section (VACC) while the applications dealing with the biological or behavioral sciences are reviewed in two, non recurring-SEPs, respectively.