Academy for Educational Development

AED TO IMPLEMENT EDUCATION INITIATIVE ON HIV VACCINE RESEARCH FOR NIAID/NIH

Washington, D.C., February 2, 2007 —The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health, has selected the Academy for Educational Development (AED) to conduct a multi-year, national initiative to educate HIV-affected communities about HIV vaccine research. AED, which partnered with the communications firm GYMR in responding to a competitive solicitation from NIAID, was awarded the five-year contract.

Using research-grounded social marketing strategies, the NIAID HIV Vaccine Research Education Initiative will engage communities, national and local organizations, and media to increase knowledge about, support for and the willingness to participate in HIV vaccine research, especially among those populations, particularly African Americans, the segment most heavily affected by HIV/AIDS. Enhancing partnerships in African-American and Hispanic-Latino communities and among gay men of all demographic groups will be a core focus of the initiative.

“Research conducted over the past five years indicates that public awareness and understanding of HIV vaccine research is very low,” said Frank Beadle de Palomo, director of global HIV/AIDS programs at AED. “The goal of this educational initiative is to significantly improve public understanding of the importance of HIV vaccine research.” AED will also provide communications support on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day on May 18, disseminate HIV vaccine research-related information, and continue to foster outreach around NIAID’s “Be the Generation” campaign.

“It is absolutely vital for our nation and the world that community partnerships that facilitate HIV vaccine trials are enhanced. That is the surest way to bring and end to this scourge,” said A. Cornelius Baker, a long-time leader in HIV policy and program initiatives who has joined AED as the NIAID HIV Vaccine Research Education Initiative Project Director.

Founded in 1961, AED (www.aed.org) is an independent non-profit organization and a leader in social marketing, behavioral research and health communication. AED works in all the major areas of human development, with a focus on improving education, health, and economic opportunities for the least advantaged in the United States and developing countries throughout the world.

GYMR, AED’s subcontractor and partner in this effort, is a nationally ranked communications firm specializing in health, healthcare, and social issues.

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