About the HPTN | The HIV Prevention Trials Network

Our Mission

The HPTN is dedicated to the discovery and development of new and innovative research strategies to reduce the acquisition and transmission of HIV.

The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) is a worldwide collaborative clinical trials network that brings together investigators, ethicists, community and other partners to develop and test the safety and efficacy of interventions designed to prevent the acquisition and transmission of HIV. HPTN studies and evaluates new HIV prevention interventions and strategies in populations and geographical regions that bear a disproportionate burden of infection. The HPTN is committed to the highest ethical standards for its clinical trials and recognizes the importance of community engagement in all phases of the research process.

The HPTN research agenda is focused primarily on the use of integrated strategies: use of antiretroviral drugs (antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis), interventions for substance abuse, particularly injection drug use, and behavioral risk reduction interventions with structural interventions.

The HPTN was established in 2000, building on the work of the HIV Network for Prevention Trials (HIVNET). HPTN’s Leadership and Operations Center (LOC), is based at FHI 360, Durham, North Carolina. The Laboratory Center (LC) is at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland and the Statistical and Data Management Center (SDMC) is housed within the Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention (SCHARP) at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. The HPTN Modelling Centre, part of the SDMC, is a collaboration between the Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at Imperial College London and SCHARP.

HPTN receives funding from three NIH institutes: the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Learn More:

HPTN Populations of Focus

HPTN Fact Sheet

The HPTN Leadership and Operations Center (LOC) – webinar

The HPTN Statistical and Data Management Center (SDMC) – webinar

Conversations with the HPTN

Amelia Mfiki

Amelia Mfiki, HPTN 083 Community Working Group member, is the community liaison officer at the Groot Schuur HIV CRS in Cape Town, South Africa. With a background in social work, she has successfully established the LGBTI forum in the Western Cape. The forum aims to empower and educate LGBTQI+ populations to enhance their health and well-being. She is one of the founders of Ubomi Bethu, an organization seeking to inform communities about HIV-related issues through treatment literacy and facility demand creation.

Tarisai Murefu

Tarisai Murefu, a member of HPTN 084 and HPTN 084-01 study protocol teams, is the lead outreach worker with the University of Zimbabwe Clinical Trials Research Centre (UZ-CTRC) in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Lynda Stranix-Chibanda

Dr. Lynda Stranix-Chibanda is co-chair of the HPTN 083-01/HPTN 084-01 sub-studies evaluating long-acting injectable cabotegravir in adolescent populations, a member of the HPTN Adolescent Working Group and research scientific director at the University of Zimbabwe Clinical Trials Research Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe. A pediatrician by training, Dr.

Harriet Nuwagaba-Biribonwoha

Dr. Harriet Nuwagaba-Biribonwoha, an HPTN 084 and HPTN 104 study team member, is an assistant professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, research director at ICAP in Eswatini, and CRS leader at the Eswatini Prevention Center Clinical Research Site (CRS).