The main objective of the AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases Program is to enhance the capabilities of the UPR Medical Sciences Campus to conduct research in the areas of AIDS and infectious diseases. These two foci of the program were chosen due to the high incidence of HIV in the Island as well as the real threat that emerging or re-emerging diseases pose to Puerto Rico, a tropical Caribbean island. The multidisciplinary program will allow the integration of the resources and expertise needed by our basic and clinical scientists to accomplish their goals. The program consists of two components: a core facility providing state-of-the-art equipment and a training component for faculty, post-doctoral fellows and students. In addition, this program will serve to integrate our clinical and basic research faculty to respond more rapidly to new infectious disease threats to the local community.

The program includes the following on-going research projects:

Project 1. "UPR Adult AIDS Clinical Trails Unit: HIV Genotyping in Antiretroviral Naive Patients"

Project 2. "Role of Chemokine Receptors in HIV Infection Across the Placenta"

Project 3. " Evaluation Studies of Dengue-2 Envelope DNA-Based Vaccine"

Project 4. "Identification of Multidrug Resistant Genes in Rodent Malaria"

These research projects address health issues relevant to the Puerto Rican and Caribbean populations, which are consonant with the focus of the RCMI Health Disparities Research Program.