Community Partners
NEW - Community Partners Training Materials Available “Understanding the clinical research process and principles of clinical research” and “The role of a CAB and principles of community involvement”
The Community Partners Training Working Group (CTWG) hired a technical writer to create a set of standardized, high quality CAB training materials for cross-network use. Community Partners (CP) agreed on a selection of specific cross-network training topics as priorities and the technical writer reviewed the existing training materials and developed a cross-network trainer’s guide and training module on the topics of “Understanding the clinical research process and principles of clinical research” and “The role of a CAB and principles of community involvement”. After much time and effort, on behalf of the Community Training Working Group, HANC and Community Partners is pleased to announce that the documents have been finalized and are ready for wide distribution. The training documents include:
The DAIDS-funded HIV research networks believe that well-informed communities contribute to better science. The networks are committed to engaging community members in all phases of the research process, from research design to dissemination of study results. Such collaboration helps to foster trust and understanding of research issues, and ensures that research strategies respect the values and cultural differences among the diverse communities impacted by the global HIV epidemic.
If you are interested in getting involved in a Community Advisory Board or Community Constituency Group, check out the links below to the community pages of the individual network websites.
Community Page Links for the Networks
Recommendations for Community Involvement in NIAID Clinical Trials Networks
The world of clinical trials research is highly regulated, with an array of documents guiding the conduct of clinical trials research. This includes policy documents and procedural guidelines covering all aspects of clinical research generally referred to as Good Clinical Practice (GCP). The topic of community involvement, however, is not covered in these guidelines, and many community representatives have increasingly felt that another type of "GCP" was needed, with the initials in this case standing for "Good Community Practice."
This document is the product of extensive community experience and expertise from around the world. With it, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Division of AIDS (DAIDS) and Community Partners hope to provide a tool for researchers and community representatives to further expand and deepen existing partnerships and forge new ones in clinical trials research in our common quest to find better ways to prevent, treat, and find a cure for HIV/AIDS.
CAB Recommendations - Executive Summary
CAB Recommendations - Full Document
CAB Recommendations - Executive Summary Spanish Translation
Community Partners
What is Community Partners?
Community Partners (CP) is a cross-Network body charged by the Network Leadership and the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) with promoting effective representation of the many communities within which the NIH/NIAID-sponsored HIV Clinical Trials Networks conduct research. Such effective representation of the network community groups includes articulating the scientific priorities of the community to the leadership of the Networks and DAIDS.
Who are Community Partners?
Community Partners is made up of community representatives from the DAIDS Networks community groups and Network staff, including representatives from the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN), the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials group (IMPAACT), the International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT), and the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN). NLOG and other external community advisors also constitute Community Partners membership. HANC staff and representatives from DAIDS serve as non-voting members.
How does Community Partners work?
To carry out its mandate, Community Partners focuses on improving intra- and inter-network community input at all levels, identifying and developing programs to meet the training and support requirements of local Community Advisory Boards, increasing the representation and participation of community members from resource-limited settings and vulnerable populations, and identifying and addressing challenges to participation in clinical trials.
An important role of Community Partners is to represent community research needs and priorities to the HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Network Leadership Operations Group (NLOG) and Strategic Working Group (SWG) and other advisory groups or committees as needed/requested. CP provides input to DAIDS research plans as they relate to scientific agendas, ethical conduct of clinical trials, community education and communication/information dissemination in a manner that ensures respect for community priorities and continued community participation.
Where are Community Partners?
Community Partners members are located at many different sites around the world. CP conducts activities regularly through conference calls and online tools such as email and a web portal system that allows for document collaboration and discussion boards. CP convenes at a face to face meeting annually, as possible.
