Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research
The Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research (CAHDR) conducts research and other scholarly activities designed to identify and understand the factors responsible for the profoundly disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS among the most vulnerable populations. Under the leadership of Executive Director Dr. Chandravanu Dash, the center is embarking on a vision to transform the CAHDR into a Premier Center that leads the charge to eliminate the disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS. This vision is strategically aligned with the mission of Meharry Medical College that “Service to Mankind is Service to God.”
The strategic plan for this transformation has four interconnected areas.
- Promote cutting-edge and collaborative research in basic, translational, clinical, and community and public health aspects of HIV/AIDS.
- Build a Minority Health Focused “HIV/AIDS Data Science Research HUB” to understand, identify and eliminate the adverse social, economic, and racial burden of HIV/AIDS.
- Train the next generation of leaders (scientists/physicians) in HIV/AIDS from underrepresented minority background.
- Lead a socially and culturally integrated outreach program in HIV/AIDS.
Our programs and affiliates
Graduate student ENVIT program
The overall goal of “Enhancing Virology Training (ENVIT) through Summer Research” is to prepare and increase the number of underrepresented minority (URM) students in virology-focused careers through didactic, hands-on, mentored, and career-development training.
Tennessee Center for AIDS Research
The Tennessee Center for AIDS Research aims to reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS in Tennessee and to implement these benefits nationally and globally.
Office of AIDS Research
The Office of AIDS Research (OAR) coordinates HIV/AIDS research across the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH provides the largest public investment in HIV/AIDS research globally.