Women's Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS

Critical questions about HIV/AIDS in women remain unanswered, despite the fact that women represent more than half of all new HIV cases globally and approximately one quarter of people living with HIV in the United States. Until these questions are addressed, we are limited in our ability to design and implement HIV research and policy that will have a meaningful impact on women living with and vulnerable to HIV.

The Women's Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS (WRI), founded by The Well Project in 2003, is a multidisciplinary and multisectoral effort dedicated to identifying gaps and recommending solutions in areas of HIV research and policy of particular significance to women living with and vulnerable to HIV across the gender spectrum. Each year, the WRI convenes a meeting to address a specific topic area, bringing together WRI attendees who represent the broad range of fields engaged in this work.

The nature of the WRI enables the group to tackle challenges from a diversity of perspectives. Because the WRI addresses topics through a problem-solving lens, participants are able to go beyond articulating the issues to developing a series of tangible recommendations that have the potential to meaningfully advance the field.

Attendees to the annual convenings are invited each year based on the meeting topic and their particular expertise; they represent the diverse stakeholders committed to accelerating understanding of HIV in women, including: Community members (women living with HIV and other advocates), Providers, Researchers, Academicians, Policymakers, Industry representatives.

In the more than two decades since the WRI was initiated by The Well Project, it has been instrumental in effecting change in HIV research and policy among women. WRI attendees have formed collaborations, implemented fellowships, developed study protocols to address novel basic science questions, created cross-disciplinary teams for enhanced study hypotheses and design, mentored young investigators, and worked with policymakers to ensure that the needs of women living with and vulnerable to HIV are consistently addressed.