Even though the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been raging for 37 years, the need for awareness, education, and research remains critically important. While there are outstanding NIH-funded educational programs aimed at training levels at the PhD and early career faculty levels, fewer target the pipeline at the undergraduate stage. By exposing highly motivated undergraduate students, particularly those that reside in high HIV-1 incidence/prevalence regions, to an education-research mentoring institute focused on neuroHIV and its associated comorbidities, there will be a significant increase in those from diverse backgrounds, including first generation and disadvantaged students, who express strong motivation and persistence to pursue a research career in this field.
To significantly increase the motivation and persistence of undergraduates who reside in areas in the USA where the incidence/prevalence of HIV/AIDS remain high to pursue graduate training toward a research career focused on the complications of HIV infection of the central nervous system (NeuroHIV) and its associated comorbidities.
