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For Immediate Release
October 16, 2000
Contact: Jeff Jenkins
Baylor AIDS initiative expands international training program
Houston - The Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston has received a five-year, $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to create a new AIDS International Training and Research Program.
The grant, sponsored by the NIH’s Fogarty International Center, will support long-term postdoctoral training in HIV/AIDS research at Baylor for health professionals from Romania, Mexico and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
"We have been providing health professionals from around the world with short-term training in pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment for several years," said Dr. Mark Kline, director of the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative and a professor of pediatrics at Baylor. "With this grant, we will for the first time be able to support trainees for two or three years as they receive training and pursue advanced degrees in HIV/AIDS-related areas. This type of program is absolutely essential to building research capacity and answering important research questions in parts of the world hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic."
Postdoctoral trainees will declare an interest in either clinical or laboratory-based research. Kline and other Baylor faculty will then assign them to an area of training and research that matches their interests and qualifications. All expenses will be funded through the grant.
Kline said the trainees will have an opportunity to pursue a graduate degree in public health in the Texas Medical Center at the University of Texas School of Public Health. They also may be eligible for additional grants or funding upon completion of the program.
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