What is NEAT?

NEAT Mission is to:

• strengthen the research capacity throughout Europe by building a network for clinical therapeutic trials in HIV in order to optimize the management of HIV;
• define optimal strategies for management of HIV infection and guide the implementation of optimal interventions;
• improve coherence, complementarities and integration and develop a common research programme in HIV research;
• spread excellence through training programmes, mobility programmes, and informative programmes (including public events, conferences, website);
• bring together the existing but dispersed critical mass of researchers (more than 200 scientists) and expertise in Europe from leading Institutions and Organisations (5 National Agencies, 2 established consortia, 16 leading clinical Institutions and 1 European Patient Association);
• integrate leading HIV/AIDS research Institutions and Clinical Centres through a coherent, multidisciplinary and durable research programme;
• tackle fragmentation and strengthen excellence by creating a Clinical Trial Platform to improve the efficacy and coherence of ongoing HIV/AIDS clinical research in Europe;
• design the roadmap for a durable restructuring and reshaping of the way research is carried out in Europe to achieve a desired level of integration, in the medium/long term;
• significantly increase the quality and ambitions of existing research in order to affirm Europe’s leadership in the field;
• promote quality and excellence through the establishment of a PhD and post doctoral programme to train young scientists.

NEAT Structure

NEAT is currently composed of 40 “core” Partner Institutions, located in 16 European Countries (including the major National AIDS Research Agencies), with over 450 researchers, plus 357 affiliated centres. It can easily be understood that the coordination of such a huge and complex group of researchers needs, at the same time, strong guidance and management flexibility.

As decided by the NEAT Steering Committee, also following the advice of the European Commission reviews, the future activities of NEAT should be, from now on, focused on four major areas: 1. Network functioning; 2. Clinical research, particularly on randomized clinical trials; 3. Integration, which may be achieved through small, intensive cross-partner/cross-country clinical studies; 4. Education and Training, focused on clinical research training.

As a consequence, the previous 14 Work Packages have been regrouped into four new Work Packages. This revision of NEAT structure will allow not only a better understanding of the most important objectives of NEAT, but will facilitate and make more understandable the reporting of the activities.

WP 1) - Network functioning

This new workpackage includes the activities of the following initial Work Packages: Management, Fundraising, Networking, Information Technology, Quality.

WP 2) - Clinical Research

This new workpackage includes the activities of the following initial Work Packages: Clinical research, Trial management, Trial design and analysis, Community and Ethics, Virology, Immunology, Regulatory, Fundraising, IT, Quality + Individual partner institutions members of Neat Trials Committees and Clinical external institutions who will enrol patients into the trials.

WP 3) - Integration

This new workpackage includes the activities previously distributed in different Work Packages, and now distributed almost through all partner institutions through Integration Grants and Exchange Fellowships.

WP 4) - Education and Training

This new workpackage includes the activities of the initial Work Package, but now is spread across almost all partner institutions, particularly those involved in trial management for Trial Investigators Training, and in for the Community/patients involvement/sensibilization.

The new operational structure is presented below with a responsible partner institution representative identified for each overarching activity.

(Approved in the SC meeting held 12th of May 2009 and re-confirmed in the SC meeting held 18th of Sept 2009)

Steering Committee Members

Abdel Babiker
Nikos Dedes
Jean Francois Delfraissy
Stephan De Wit
Josè Gatell
Andrzej Horban
Christine Katlama
Anton Pozniak
Jurgen Rockstroh
Reinhold Ernst Schmidt
Stefano Vella
Patrick Yeni

Scientific Advisory Committee Members

Scott Hammer

Connie Benson

David Cooper

Pedro Cahn

Mauro Schekter

Paula Munderi

Mark Wainberg

Patrik Yeni

Governance Advisory Committee Members

Julio Montaner

Michel Kazatchkine

Kevin de Cock

Catherine Peckham

Peter Reiss

NEAT Partners