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 evaluate 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

Darren L. Whitfield

Dr. Darren L. Whitfield, a protocol team member for HPTN 096, member of the HPTN Black Caucus, and 2018-2019 Domestic Scholar is an associate professor of social work at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. His primary research focuses on understanding the impact of psychosocial and structural factors on health and mental health outcomes among Black men who have sex with men (MSM), Black transgender women, and LGBTQ communities.

Nelecy Chome

Nelecy Chome RNM, MPH, an HPTN 084 Community Working Group member, is a community activities coordinator at the University of North Carolina Project in Lilongwe, Malawi. In addition to supporting several HPTN studies, Chome has worked with the Adult Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), and Microbicide Trials Network (MTN). She began her healthcare career 17 years ago as a nurse.

Cynthia Nombeko Mpongo

Cynthia Nombeko Mpongo is an HPTN 084 Community Working Group member and community liaison administrator at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa. She is the author of Nakanjani, a short story and poetry book, and co-author of the novel Whisper Not. Mpongo holds degrees in psychological counseling and soc

Yaw Agyei

Yaw Agyei, MPH, is a senior international laboratory QA/QC coordinator at the HPTN Laboratory Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He has spent the last 19 years working with different African labs to implement many HPTN trials.