The Division of AIDS (DIAIDS), a branch of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), supports the clinical research for therapies designed to treat HIV infections and similar infectious diseases.
Currently, the NIAID has a contract for its research called “HIV Clinical Research Support Services,” or CRSS. The CRSS is designed to develop and support therapies that treat HIV infections as well as HIV/AIDS complications. These include vaccines and similar prevention methods.
The DIAIDS financially supports over 150 Phase I through IV clinical trials at more than 150 research sites in 17 countries. The goal is to determine the efficacy and safety of these vaccines, therapeutics and similar preventive methods.
During the last five years, the organization, along with its contractor Westat, has hosted over 90 work requests for the support of the clinical research portfolio at DIAIDS. All of the requests pertained to laboratory, clinical research and training.
One of the goals of the contract is to bridge the gap between offering urgent or unexpected services for new or changing needs and then offering ready access to consultants, subject matter experts and subcontractors.
The new CRSS contract is designed to assess in-country and federal regulatory compliance requirements, specify site training, build capacity, and offer support activities for clinical site research and its capacity assessment.
