Abstract:
The District of Columbia Clinical Trials Unit (DC CTU) (in the Department of Epidemiology, SPH) houses the GW HIV Prevention Trials Network Clinical Research Site (GW HPTN CRS) and the Whitman-Walker Advancing Clinical Trials Globally (formerly the AIDS Clinical Trials Group) Research Site (WW ACTG CRS) is one of 35 NIH-funded CTUs globally studying novel approaches to preventing, treating, and curing HIV. One strength of the NIH-funded HIV networks is their excellence in clinical trials implementation and ability to rapidly pivot as emerging threats to public health may occur. In 2020, such a threat did occur with the emergence of COVID-19. The DC CTU responded. In partnership with faculty from the GW School of Medicine, the GW HPTN CRS implemented COVID-19 vaccine trials, including the Moderna mRNA vaccine which eventually was approved and has become one of two primary vaccines used around the world to prevent COVID-19. Meanwhile, the WW ACTG CRS became a site of the newly founded ACTIV (ACCELERATING COVID-19 THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS AND VACCINES). The DC CTU is an excellent example of the partnership between epidemiologists, clinicians, lab scientists, and the community in tackling some of the most significant public health challenges of our era. This seminar will discuss the collaborative building of the DC CTU over the last two decades and allow a chance for discussion of ways clinical trials can engage with effective community partnerships. 

This seminar is part of the series "Clinical Trials: The Pinnacle of Evidence", hosted by the GWU Biostatistics Center and funded by the GWU University Seminar Funding Program.