Aids Research Foundation amfAR

Amfar supports Research projects that explore novel approaches to scientifically sound but untested hypotheses in all areas of Research on hiv/aids. Funding goal-oriented studies that often lack The preliminary data required for support from traditional grant makers. The Foundation plays a vital role in hiv/aids Research, identifying critical gaps in knowledge and providing essential seed money that enables grantees and fellows to test The merits of new concepts or technologies that subsequently can be validated through large-scale studies, such as those funded by The u.s. national institutes of health. for further details, see scheule o.

Public informationamfar translates and disseminates information on important hiv-related Research, treatment, prevention, and policy issues for diverse audiences to increase awareness and knowledge of The pandemic. Amfar publishes a wide range of educational materials, maintains an informative website, and engages respected public figures, hiv/aids scientists, and policymakers in communicating The need for continued Research to develop new methods of prevention and treatment, and, ultimately, a cure for hiv. Educational materials Amfar produces periodicals in both print and digital formats, including its newsletter, innovations, published twice a year and distributed to about 16,000 people, and a monthly e-mail newsletter, insights, distributed to approximately 20,000 recipients. The Foundation's website - www.amfar.org - features news, interviews, and original articles covering hiv Research, policy, The global epidemic, and Amfar programs and activities. The website attracts an average of 18,000 visits and over 31,000 pageviews per month. Amfar creates and distributes reports, press releases, and updates on major hiv/aids issues and conducts public service advertising campaigns that have been instrumental in educating policymakers, healthcare professionals, people living with hiv/aids, and The public. Amfar's public information team also works closely with The public policy office and treat asia staff (see above) to produce a wide range of issue briefs, facts sheets, infographics, and reports.social mediaamfar has vigorously expanded its presence in The social media arena, reaching large numbers of people, including a younger demographic that is often less educated about hiv and The Aids epidemic. Posts in fy2023 covered topics such as treatment access, hiv criminalization (including uganda's anti-homosexuality act), cuts in hiv funding, The importance of hiv testing, women's health, and The accomplishments of pepfar on The global health program's twentieth anniversary and in light of its possible defunding by congress. The Foundation has expanded its social platforms to include tiktok, targeting a new generation of advocates. Amfar regularly updates its social channels with The latest Research breakthroughs and policy news, as well as detailed coverage from its world-renowned fundraising galas. Amfar has over 85,000 followers on facebook, more than 42,000 x (formerly twitter) followers, over 120,500 tiktok followers, and 194,000 instagram followers. During Amfar's venice gala, The Foundation's instagram posts garnered over 1.3m impressions through a combination of photo and video content. Amfar strategically placed several programmatic messages in its feeds throughout The evening to capitalize on heightened traffic our channels received. Media outreachamfar continued to work closely with The media to raise The profile of hiv/aids, both domestically and internationally, and to help ensure The accuracy of hiv-related press coverage. Articles and reports involving Amfar many of which included interviews with staff were carried in numerous media outlets, including nbc news, pbs newshour, npr, associated press, reuters, The new york times, The Washington post, The guardian, The observer, dallas morning news, vanity fair, vogue, vogue business, w, people, variety, The lancet, pharmacy times, journal of The international Aids society, poz, aidsmap, thebody, cr fashion book, women's wear daily, elle, us weekly, The hollywood reporter, deadline, page six, wired, et, access hollywood, cosmopolitan, town & country, culted, artnet, haute living, buzzfeed, miami living, palm beach daily news, palm beach society, Florida weekly, The Tennessean, quest, artspace, gay city news, insider, nylon, vogue hong kong, harper's bazaar france, euronews, paris match, l'officiel italia, and l'officiel austria.amfar garnered approximately 21,400 mentions across media in fy2023.multimodal awareness-raisingamfar frequently spotlights Aids awareness not only across different platforms but across different media in order to reach diverse audiences. for world Aids day 2022, Amfar's public information team produced a video featuring The organization's ceo and program heads, offering insights into progress on hiv/aids, domestic and foreign hiv policy, and current hiv research.amfar partnered with prospect 100 to sponsor an nft art/design competition to raise funds for The organization's Research and advocacy programs. Judges included kendall jenner, jeff koons, kate moss, j balvin, alton mason, and baz luhrmann.along with marking national hiv/aids awareness days throughout The year, Amfar helped commemorate The 40th anniversary of The denver principles, a founding document that become a blueprint of empowerment for people living with hiv/aids, with a widely distributed press release and social media posts.in june 2023, Amfar organized several pre-pride events in new york and los angeles and participated in new york city's heritage of pride march by sponsoring a float that celebrated unity and solidarity with The lgbtq+ community.benefit eventspublic information assisted in The production of benefit events such as fundraising galas in dallas, Texas, in october 2022; los angeles, California, november 2022; palm beach, Florida, march 2023; cannes, france, may 2023; and venice, italy, in september 2023. Celebrity support Amfar's public awareness efforts are greatly enhanced by The committed support of public figures who lend their voices and donate their time, talents, and resources to help sustain The Foundation's mission. Support of Amfar from prominent public figures began with The late dame elizabeth taylor, Amfar's founding international chairman, and others have followed in her footsteps. Amfar is profoundly grateful for The continuing support of celebrities from all over The world.celebrity supporters included angela bassett, kate beckinsale, orlando bloom, matteo bocelli, kelly clarkson, robert de niro, leonardo dicaprio, ava duvernay, jay ellis, luke evans, emily hampshire, ed harris, ethan hawke, tommy hilfiger, cheyenne jackson, scarlett johansson, earvin "magic" johnson, milla jovovich, heidi klum, gladys knight, jane krakowski, adam lambert, julian lennon, leona lewis, eva longoria, jane lynch, tobey maguire, james marsden, catherine o'hara, keke palmer, tyler perry, queen latifah, rita ora, sheryl lee ralph, bebe rexha, coco rocha, michelle rodriguez, carine roitfeld, jeremy scott, troye sivan, alexander skarsgrd, kenan thompson, bella thorne, ellen von unwerth, taika waititi, jesse williams, rebel wilson, and jeffrey wright.

Treat asiafor more than 20 years, Amfar's treat asia program (therapeutics Research, education, and Aids training in asia) has been working with partners across The asia-pacific region to expand access to treatment for hiv and related conditions such as hepatitis c (hcv) and improve standards of care. The treat asia network encompasses 21 adult and 21 pediatric sites in 12 countries throughout The region, which collaborate on a variety of projects. Treat asia scientists published 25 papers in peer-reviewed medical journals in fy2023. Treat asia and network partner researchtreat asia and its network partners conduct numerous studies, which this year included Research on long-term treatment outcomes of adolescents and young adults living with hiv, pregnancy outcomes among women living with hiv, lung cancer, lung impairment in hiv and tb, mental health screening and linkage to care strategies, The viral hepatitis cascade of care, serology of sars-cov-2 and other viral pathogens, chemsex in young men who have sex with men (msm), tb preventive therapy, and hpv and anal cancer risk among msm, among others. International Aids databasetreat asia manages The asia-pacific section of The international epidemiology databases to evaluate Aids (iedea), a global collaboration established by The u.s. national institute of allergy and infectious diseases. Iedea is central to a wide range of international studies, listed below, in which treat asia participates.iedea dolutegravir resistance studythis global study led by The university of bern aims to determine patterns and risk factors for virologic failure in adults on dolutegravir (dtg)-based art, and to investigate correlations between resistance genotypes across hiv-1 subtypes. The study is ongoing in three iedea asia-pacific network sites in cambodia (1) and thailand (2). Iedea tuberculosis sentinel Research network (iedea tb-srn): The global study aims to describe clinical and treatment outcomes of pulmonary tb and provide a platform for global tb Research among people with and without hiv. Three iedea asia-pacific sites are participating: nchads (kampong cham hospital), cambodia, and national hospital of tropical diseases (nhtd) and national hospital 74, vietnam. Iedea sentinel Research network (iedea srn): The global study is assessing liver, cardio-metabolic, mental health, and substance use comorbidities among people with hiv over 40 years of age, on art for more than six months. It is being implemented at two iedea asia-pacific sites: bj medical college in pune, india, and national hospital of tropical diseases in hanoi, vietnam. The southeast asia transgender cohort study (seatrans): The regional prospective cohort study will enroll 450 transgender participants with and without hiv across four sites in The philippines, thailand and vietnam to 1) track physical and mental health among transgender people; 2) identify biomedical, structural, and psychosocial factors impacting physical and mental health; 3) describe structural barriers to healthcare; and 4) develop guidance on holistic healthcare policies for transgender people. Suicidal behavior among thai adolescents living with hiv (s-betah): this prospective cohort study aims to determine The prevalence of mental health disorders and suicidal behavior following positive screening and linkage to mental health services. With The first phase completed, The second phase will assess The prevalence and incidence of suicidality among this population compared with their hiv-negative age- and sex-matched counterparts. Factors associated with suicidality also will be identified.the mental health and hiv service integration (mhint) study: this mixed methods implementation-effectiveness hybrid study led by treat asia in collaboration with columbia university will be implemented at four participating sites [bangkok (2), manila, and kuala lumpur] with The aim of developing and assessing mental health screening and linkage to care strategies.hepatitis c virus coinfectiondrawing on data from one of treat asia's observational databases, an ongoing study is investigating trends in hepatitis c virus coinfection and its cascade of care among adults living with hiv in asia from 2010 to 2020.integrating hiv, mental health, and implementation science researchin 2019, The u.s. nih awarded a five-year, $1.4 million grant to treat asia and columbia university to establish an innovative platform for integrating hiv, mental health, and implementation science Research in The asia-pacific region. The objective of The chimera program (capacity development for hiv and mental health Research in asia) is to address The dual and interlinked burdens of hiv and mental health. Co-led by principal investigators dr. annette sohn, Amfar vice president and director of treat asia, and dr. milton wainberg of columbia university and The new york state psychiatric institute, The program aims to build a team within The asia-pacific with The capacity to lead regional hiv-mental health-implementation science Research that will inform public health policy and improve clinical care for people living with hiv. Chimera creates The opportunity to bring together stellar training faculty from academic centers and public health and development agencies within The region and across The world, and builds on existing nih-funded mental health Research being conducted through iedea asia-pacific. Six fellows participated in The asia-pacific Aids & co-infections conference in singapore in june, and two class 1 fellows presented e-posters at The 12th ias conference on hiv science in australia in july. Throughout The year, fellows continued implementation of their pilot Research projects, with major strides made in data collection, data coding, and preliminary analysis. Improving health through informationtreat asia hiv observational database (tahod)treat asia pioneered The region's first adult observational database for hiv/aids, which included anonymous data from more than 10,700 patients at 21 clinical sites in 12 countries in its final data transfer in september 2021. Tahod transitioned to The tahod continuum of care (tahod-cc) cohort in 2022 and continued its data transfers throughout 2023. The information gathered in The databases has informed The development of more effective Research and treatment programs and helped define treatment standards specific to hiv/aids in asia. A report, "hiv treatment outcomes after 10 years on art in The treat asia observational database (tahod) and australian hiv observational database (ahod)," was presented at both apacc 2023 and ias 2023.tahod low-intensity transfer launched in 2014, tahod low-intensity transfer (tahod-lite) contained data from over 51,000 hiv-positive patients across 11 treat asia network sites in its final data transfer in 2021. Analysis continued through fy2023. As an extension of tahod, tahod-lite aims to increase The scope of adult data collection by gathering a subset of core variables from The entire cohort of people living with hiv who have sought care at selected tahod sites.treat asia pediatric hiv observational database The treat asia pediatric hiv observational database (taphod) is a regional pediatric hiv study set up by treat asia in 2006. It was modeled after The adult database and includes data from more than 7,500 children and adolescents at 21 clinical sites in cambodia, india, indonesia, malaysia, thailand, and vietnam.community-led monitoring dashboardwith The help of Amfar's public policy office and along with community network for empowerment (cone) in manipur, india, and peduli hati in indonesia, treat asia developed an online dashboard (www.clm-asia.org) to expand and enhance community-led monitoring in The implementing organizations' respective country regions. The dashboard is supported in part by viiv healthcare.responding to covid-19 treat asia continued to collate data about adults and children impacted by covid-19. Covid-19 data on nearly 600 cases were transferred to tahod by eight participating sites in late 2021. An analysis on covid-19 clinical presentations and outcomes among plhiv is being conducted. for The pediatric database, 11 sites are participating in covid-19 data collection: cambodia (1), india (2), indonesia (3), malaysia (1), thailand (1) and vietnam (3). To date, data on 454 pediatric covid-19 cases have been transferred to The kirby institute, and a concept sheet to analyze The data has been developed. Launched in 2021, treat asia's covid website - www.covid19asiainfo.org - continued to be an important source of information on covid vaccines and therapeutics relevant to The asia-pacific region.

Public policyending The hiv epidemic in The u.s.throughout The year, The Amfar policy team worked closely with members of The biden administration, The centers for disease control and prevention (cdc), national institutes of health (nih), and The department of health and human services to promote an evidenced-based response to The u.s. hiv epidemic and discuss policy initiatives. Amfar focused much of its efforts on keeping domestic and international hiv funding on track and continuing its data-driven advocacy of rational and compassionate hiv/aids-related public policy, while engaging in efforts to expand access to treatment and care for marginalized populations, promoting harm reduction policies aimed at reducing The transmission of hiv and hepatitis c (hcv) among people who inject drugs, and protecting The civil rights of all people affected by or vulnerable to hiv/aids. Safeguarding hiv programsin early 2023, The governor of Tennessee announced The state's rejection of federal funds for hiv prevention and unveiled a revised Tennessee department of health prevention strategy shifting focus away from The most vulnerable populations. In response, Amfar produced and distributed to congressional offices an infographic illustrating how The new focus would miss those most at risk of infection, and met with stakeholders from Tennessee and The cdc division of hiv prevention. To inform The public about this issue, Amfar was interviewed by The new york times, Washington post, pbs, npr, and nbc news.in addition, The policy team initiated an analysis of The number of undiagnosed hiv infections in The u.s., and The human and economic costs if other states were to follow in The footsteps of Tennessee and refuse federal hiv prevention funding. Partnering with funders concerned about Aids, Amfar also produced a timely infographic, ending hiv: zero out The epidemic not The budget, to demonstrate The potential impact of proposed cuts to federal hiv funding in a fy24 appropriations bill introduced to The house of representatives. Learning from mpoxthe public policy office advised The white house global mpox coordinator on ongoing and future responses, and co-sponsored a meeting with georgetown law school to undertake a postmortem of The domestic response to The epidemic. In may 2023, The policy team partnered with The o'neill institute at georgetown law to co-author community partnerships make public health more effective: learning from The 2022 mpox outbreak response, as a follow-up to a series of issue briefs on The epidemic. In july, Amfar and columbia university's nyc pandemic response institute convened more than 60 stakeholders for The national conference to advance equity in mpox diagnostics to determine and prioritize policy actions and strategies to improve diagnostics development. Participants summarized their findings in a published report. Amfar also funded mpox-focused studies at harvard and columbia.ensuring global health accessamfar maintains an active role in global advocacy and policy initiatives, and policy staff participate in pepfar country operational plan meetings, The global fund partnership forum, and The un high-level meetings on hiv/aids. Amfar engages in advocacy with house and senate appropriations committees to secure strong global hiv budgets and closely track and respond to new global health policies. Additionally, Amfar plays a key role as a technical assistance provider for in-country community-led monitoring efforts in four countries. In this role, Amfar engages with local activists and data collection teams to ensure high-quality data are produced for hiv service quality monitoring and advocacy initiatives. Amfar led ongoing community-driven capacity building efforts with zimbabwe, uganda, and malawi. In The u.s., The team also met with office of global Aids coordinator staff on best practices on community-led monitoring funding and project structures. Preserving pepfarapproaching The 20th anniversary of pepfar and to mark The day The program's legislation was proposed in The u.s. house of representatives in 2003, Amfar's public policy team met with ambassador nkengasong to discuss his vision, The future of The program, and Amfar's continued partnership. Although The updated pepfar strategy showed great potential for continuing The program's stellar record of accomplishment, proposed changes under review on capitol hill that could derail its progress prompted Amfar to author a "structured for success" series of reports.distributed to key offices on capitol hill in early 2023, The three reports outline what has made pepfar work so well thus far and, for The good of global public health, why its anchor points shouldn't be disrupted. Political will, power, and process in The u.s. president's emergency plan for Aids relief (pepfar) underscores The reasons for pepfar's sustainability; centralized coordination authority under pepfar vs. international pandemic preparedness argues that pepfar's mission may be undercut by an act introduced in congress that proposes to transfer The decision-making power to a new ambassador-at-large for global health security and diplomacy; and legislative purpose, targets, and focus under pepfar vs. international pandemic preparedness maps out The concrete aims that have been defined by pepfar leadership and contrasts them with The proposed changes in decision-making and their potential negative effects.as it became clear that pepfar might not be reauthorized in 2023, Amfar's public policy staff held high-level meetings on capitol hill and established a small working group with hiv coalition partners to strengthen advocacy with policymakers.empowerment through dataamfar is at The forefront of data collection for advocacy purposes, fortifying public health responses with accurate information. In fy2023, for example, Amfar advised both The cdc and johns hopkins university on modernizing covid-19 data collection. And, during a week of in-person capacity building in lesotho, The public policy office led data trainings to represent The needs of adolescent girls and young women in advocacy efforts.in addition, Amfar maintains a suite of free interactive databases that are invaluable resources for individuals and organizations working to secure and monitor hiv-related funding and tailor programs to meet The needs of clients. Advocates from around The world rely on these resources to easily access data and prepare advocacy initiatives. Pepfar monitoring, evaluation, and reporting (mer.amfar.org): The mer database enables policymakers, public health officials, advocates, and other stakeholders to access a wide range of programmatic pepfar data and includes downloadable pdfs, maps, data visualizations, and district-level data. Pepfar country/regional operational plans (copsdata.amfar.org): a complement to The mer database, cops highlights planned funding by program area, country, and organization for each year that has been publicly released. The database is designed to help pepfar in its efforts to increase data transparency and general participation in The planning process. Key populations and key population investment fund (kpif) data project (kpdata.amfar.org): launched in 2021, The data project brings together available data on key populations demographics, epidemiology, funding, and programming from unaids, pepfar, and The global fund. This resource includes country factsheets showing how funding has evolved over time, and, where possible, identifies who is responsible for implementing kp programming in The pepfar program. Ending The hiv epidemic in The u.s. (ehe.amfar.org): in 2019, president trump announced a plan to end hiv transmissions in The u.s. by 2030. The ending The hiv epidemic (ehe) initiative aims to reduce hiv infections by 75% in five years, and by 90% in ten years. To help policymakers, public health officials, advocates, and other stakeholders understand The opportunities and challenges across ehe jurisdictions, Amfar maintains a free interactive database that includes demographic, policy, and service provider information, and epidemiological indicators.opioid & heath indicators database (opioid.amfar.org): Amfar maintains an important and widely used resource on hiv and The opioid epidemic. It provides local to national statistics using reliable data sources on new hiv and hepatitis c infections, opioid use and overdose death rates, and The availability of services like drug treatment programs and syringe exchange services.sharing knowledge, amplifying expertisein december 2022, Amfar and global action for trans equality (gate) released a new report, increasing trans inclusion in hiv/aids national strategic planning: learnings from community advocacy in five countries. Based on a yearlong project, The report aimed to increase trans inclusion in national strategic plans for hiv/aids by

By building The capacity of five trans-led community organizations to engage in nsp-focused advocacy and shape trans-specific programming.in 2023, Amfar staff published three articles in academic journals with far-reaching policy implications. In The lancet hiv in march, greg millett, mph, Amfar vice president and director of public policy, co-authored "associations between punitive policies and legal barriers to consensual same-sexual acts among gay men in sub-saharan africa," pooling data from ten country-specific, cross-sectional studies conducted in 25 sites across The region.the journal of The international Aids society published a "viewpoint" warning that The u.s. government's proposed reconfiguration of global health functions would negatively impact pepfar. Written by greg millett, independent scholar emily bass, and brian honermann, Amfar deputy director of public policy, The commentary outlined The ways in which tampering with pepfar would not only waste time and money, but also upend progress on Aids and hamper our response to other pandemics.in The december issue of The journal of The international Aids society, greg millett co-authored "there is no ending Aids by 2030 without improving human rights," which illuminated The ways in which suboptimal human rights can lead to negative hiv-related health outcomes.amfar numerous presentations and panels at meetings and conferences throughout The year, Amfar participated in The 2023 international Aids conference on hiv science (ias 2023) in brisbane, australia. Members of The public policy team authored five abstracts, covering topics such as pepfar's recency surveillance strategy, quality of care for key populations, and community-led monitoring in south africa, among others.