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Center for AIDS Intervention Research (CAIR)

Center for AIDS Intervention Research (CAIR) History

The Division of Community Health and Intervention Research/Center for AIDS Intervention Research

The Center for AIDS Intervention Research was founded in 1990 as a multidisciplinary HIV prevention research center that was eventually supported for 25 years by a P30 Center grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Now renamed the Division of Community Health and Intervention Research/CAIR, we have an expanded mission and receive grant support from other sources, including other institutes of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Wisconsin AIDS/HIV Program, and the Medical College of Wisconsin. The Division and Center are based within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine.

The Center for AIDS Intervention Research: In 1990, the Medical College of Wisconsin sought to initiate a major new program in HIV prevention research and began the recruitment of an interdisciplinary team of behavioral science, social science, and public health faculty with research backgrounds in HIV prevention areas. In 1994, following the recruitment of this central group of HIV prevention investigators and their linkage with other prevention science faculty already at MCW, the Medical College was awarded a center grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) that established the Center for AIDS Intervention Research (CAIR). CAIR was one of only a handful of dedicated HIV prevention research centers in the country and the only center of its kind supported by NIMH between the east and west coasts. Since the Center's inception, CAIR investigators have published more than 1,000 scholarly articles in the HIV/AIDS field and been awarded more than $200 million in research funding.

The Division of Community Health and Intervention Research (CHAIR): In 2023, the Center formally expanded its name and mission to include the development, evaluation, and dissemination of behavioral, social, and structural interventions to combat other health conditions. Research priorities within the Division include mental and behavioral health, LGBTQ+ health, substance use, health disparities, the impacts of policies on public health, and other related topics.

The Prevention and Implementation Sciences Training (PAIST) Lab: The PAIST Lab is a research training program established in 2022 and co-directed by Steven John and Katherine Quinn. The lab is grounded in health equity and a focus on reducing health disparities, and it provides interdisciplinary training to predoctoral, doctoral, and medical students in research methods and prevention and implementation sciences.

How we're organized

The Division and Center are organized into four research cores and a training lab that support and enhance the conduct of research studies undertaken by faculty investigators. Each of the scientific Cores brings together a multidisciplinary group of faculty scientists with shared expertise in the Core area and who are able to contribute to Core functions from different disciplinary perspectives, stimulating cross-discipline interactions. Core resources are used by and benefit multiple studies conducted by multiple affiliated investigators.
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Administration Core

Core Director: Jeffrey A. Kelly, PhD

The Administration Core is the Division's central oversight, planning, and decision-making body. This Core is responsible for CAIR's scientific activities, evaluation and planning activities, Core utilization reviews, inter-Core coordination, and new investigator recruitment. The Administrative Core also solicits input from internal, external, and community advisory committees, maintains budgetary oversight, coordinates overall administrative activities, and oversees planning and resource development.

Qualitative Methods Core

Core Director: Katherine Quinn, PhD

The Qualitative Methods Core serves the needs of faculty investigators related to the design, implementation, analysis, and interpretation of ethnographic research activities. Core members provide expert consultation to investigators who are conducting projects which utilize ethnographic methods, including study design, training and supervision, quality assurance monitoring, and data analysis. The Core also provides educational and training opportunities related to ethnographic methodology, with particular emphasis on their relevance to HIV behavioral research.

Quantitative Core

Core Director: Timothy L. McAuliffe, PhD

The Quantitative Core provides leadership, consultation, support services, and training to investigators and scientific personnel in the areas of data management, biostatistics, research design, and analysis. In addition, the Core performs a leadership role in the conduct of assessment methodology research and the design of data collection instruments, as well as interacting with other Cores in matters related to quantitative models, design, and analysis.

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