UCLA’s HIV prevention, treatment center receives $7.5 million grant

The National Institute of Mental Health renewed its support for UCLA’s collaborative Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services with a five-year, $7.5 million grant, the university announced Thursday.

The center, made up of scientists from UCLA, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, the Friends Research Institute and the RAND Corp., has worked for 25 years to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic both locally and globally.

The new funding will bolster research aimed at reducing HIV transmission across Southern California and the world — in line with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ goal to end the epidemic in the United States by 2030.

The grant program will be directed by Steven Shoptaw, a professor of family medicine and of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he is also vice chair of research in family medicine.

“This award is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our scientists and community partners,” Shoptaw said in a statement. “With this funding, we look forward to pursuing innovative, high-impact approaches to address the HIV epidemic and the conditions that drive it.”

Roughly 38 million people globally and 1.2 million nationally are living with HIV, with about 35,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.