Community Advisory Board
The Alabama Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) Community Advisory Board (CAB) is a coalition of diverse community members representing differences in sex, race, age or sexual orientation.
Members range from healthcare workers, religious leaders, people living with HIV/AIDS, or people from communities affected by HIV/AIDS, and the general community who want to get involved. You do not have to be an expert in HIV/AIDS or any related field to join the CAB.
The mission of the Alabama-CTU CAB is to serve as a voice for the community, ensuring that HIV prevention vaccine studies and HIV treatment studies are responsive to the needs and concerns of the communities from which study participants are recruited. We strive to create an environment of trust and mutual understanding of research issues and ensure that the values and cultural differences of participants are respected.
The Alabama CRS includes a therapeutic research component (UAB 1917 Research Clinic) and prevention research component (Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic at UAB). In previous years the therapeutic component and the prevention component each has its own independent functioning Community Advisory Board (CAB). Within the last 3 years, the Community Advisory Boards have collapsed into one CAB that serves to engage both the therapeutic and prevention research agendas.
The CAB meets quarterly and the meeting lasts for approximately one hour. Dinner is provided.
Specific objectives of the CAB include the following:
Advocate
Advocate for the participants and the community by addressing such issues as participant safety and rights, research ethics, informed consent, and confidentiality.
Educate
Educate the community on research methods, clinical studies, and HIV vaccine research.
Communicate
Communicate the concerns and needs of the community to the researchers.
Facilitate
Facilitate discussion between the community and researchers by linking with local organizations.
Advice
Advise staff on community education and recruitment strategies and on communicating study findings.
Provide
Provide feedback and representation to the Global CAB, network working groups, and at other levels where network representation is needed.
