Now in its ninth year, the Fordham HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute (RETI) is a training grant sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The RETI provides early career investigators in the social, behavioral, medical and public health fields with an opportunity to gain research ethics training. A major function of the RETI is also to conduct institute-funded research on ethical issues in HIV and drug use research. In doing so, RETI addresses the urgent need for HIV investigators who can identify and address ethical issues, engage drug-using and other at-risk communities in the construction and evaluation of population-sensitive research protections, and generate empirical data to inform ethical practice and policies for HIV prevention science. Through their funded Mentored Research Project (MRP), RETI fellows generate empirical data, publish their findings in a variety of high-impact academic journals, and are trained to apply for increasing grant opportunities.

RETI Aims

• Expand fellows’ knowledge of and capacity to address key ethical issues in HIV prevention research with drug using and other at-risk communities
• Provide fellows with the skills to ethically engage participants and communities in the construction of participant protections that reflect the values and merit the trust of all stakeholders in HIV and drug abuse prevention research
• Increase fellows’ capacity to conduct research that will generate data to inform HIV and drug abuse prevention research practices and policies
• Create and sustain an information and communication network for fellows, faculty and others in the field for enhancing ethical knowledge, ethical dialogue and future professional collaborations in HIV and drug abuse prevention research ethics

Selected applicants will:

• Attend two summer training institutes with fully funded travel and lodging to New York City. The first institute will take place July 13-21, 2020, and the second will occur in July 2021
• Receive a $30,000 grant to conduct a mentored research study that will contribute to evidence-based HIV & drug abuse research ethics practices
• Join an international network of scholars examining current challenges in HIV & drug abuse research ethics

Learn more about the fellowship and application guidelines, and be sure to submit applications by March 11, 2020.