Faith and Spirituality inter-CFAR Working Group
July 26, 2022
CFAR colleagues-
We welcome interested CFAR investigators to join the Faith and Spirituality inter-CFAR Working Group. Some information about the group is provided below. If you think you might be interested, please complete the survey at the following link.
https://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/surveys/?s=7AYTMN33JMKR74P4
The Faith and Spirituality inter-CFAR Working Group was established in 2016. The Steering Committee is presently chaired by Rev. Jimmy Gibbs at North Carolina. This is an energetic and enthusiastic group. In 2022, the Tennessee CFAR (a partnership between Vanderbilt, Meharry, Nashville CARES, and Tennessee Dept of Health) took on leadership and coordination of this group. The group's vision is to build collaborations among researchers, faith-based organizations, community leaders and public sector leaders, with a focus on ending the HIV epidemic. The group's mission is to serve as a group to engage in meaningful conversation, nurture collaborations, and build partnerships in the community to respond to research grant opportunities, generate publications, support early career and transitioning investigators and to include community-engaged participatory research with people living with HIV. Our overarching purpose is to advance scientific inquiry into the ways in which faith and spirituality may enhance HIV prevention, case detection, engagement in care, viral suppression and ultimate cure of HIV. Additionally, our mission is to host a nationwide CFAR conference to display outcomes of the group's collaborations, present ongoing research, and to expand collaborations and partnerships. Activities of the group will include periodic webinars, and a national meeting (hoping to convene at Meharry).
All the best…
David