Partnership Forged to Fight HIV/AIDS in China

A relationship established during the bleakest days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in San Francisco has developed into a landmark affiliation agreement signed between the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (China CDC's) National Center for AIDS Prevention and Control (NCAIDS). "With this collaboration, we plan to strengthen the international component of multidisciplinary AIDS research in China, build joint research programs with UCSF faculty, train young Chinese scientists and clinicians in the field of AIDS and related disciplines, and facilitate the exchange of investigators and students to promote research and training," said Yiming Shao, MD, PhD, chief expert on AIDS at the China CDC's NCAIDS.

Front row (left to right): Deborah Greenspan, Yiming Shao, John Greenspan. Back row (left to right): Liying Ma, Xiang He, Kunxue Hong, Jianqing Xu, Guibo Yang

Shao's personal introduction to UCSF as a leader in HIV/AIDS research and care came through meeting UCSF's renowned AIDS researcher and co-discoverer of the HIV virus, Jay A. Levy, MD, in 1987 - three years after Levy's discovery amidst a raging AIDS epidemic here - and Shao has collaborated with him ever since. Shao credits UCSF's longstanding role in the vanguard of HIV/AIDS research and its prestige in medical research and education, along with Levy's and other UCSF researchers' assistance and collaborations over the years in Chinese efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS, for providing much of the impetus for the agreement. "Dr. Levy has been to the hardest-hit areas in China, and has lectured in our national training courses and participated in our national conferences on HIV/AIDS," said Shao. "And he has not been the only UCSF researcher working in HIV/AIDS to have come to China. Scientific exchanges have been underway between our two institutions for many years." John Greenspan, BDS, PhD, director of the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF, who recently went to Beijing to sign the agreement, noted several targets for collaboration. "Enhancing exchanges with the many UCSF schools - medicine, nursing, dentistry and pharmacy - in the front lines fighting HIV/AIDS globally will be one focus. We also intend to assist in building provider and investigator expertise through joint training and capacity-building projects. And we look forward to working with the many superb researchers in China on joint research projects." The agreement specifically aims to train a core of experts at the junior and senior levels to conduct multidisciplinary HIV research and to provide innovative leadership in research, intervention and training in their particular fields. One goal is to address the shortage of investigators in China with the research skills necessary to meet immediate needs for sophisticated, multidisciplinary HIV prevention, research and care in China's specific social, cultural and economic contexts. "After the SARS outbreak, the Chinese government greatly increased funding to fight HIV/AIDS," said Shao. "However, our biggest challenge in combating the disease lies in developing our scientific research capacity, since research provides the foundation for effective HIV/AIDS prevention and control programs. This aspect of the collaboration will help us train urgently needed scientists and assist in the uptake of advanced technologies. "In addition, these mechanisms for scientific exchange are mutual. UCSF students have been summer interns at my institute, and I am very hopeful that their experiences will help them become future experts and leaders in global health." "This is a critical time for China," said Greenspan. "Significant resources are now being expended to stop HIV/AIDS from bursting out of control in the world's most populous country. By sharing our expertise in this setting, we can help to contain the virus and also learn a great deal that may initially be specific to China, but also could help here and in other places around the world." The AIDS Research Institute coordinates all of the HIV/AIDS research, treatment and prevention activities at UCSF. Combining the best basic science, bench-to-bedside research, behavioral studies, direct care services and policy development, the ARI at UCSF is one of the premier HIV/AIDS medical, education and research institutions in the world. Related Links: Top Chinese Scientist in AIDS Prevention and Control Honed His Skills in Long Collaboration with UCSF UCSF Today, August 1, 2006 UCSF AIDS Research Institute