Business plan for HIV research consortium

The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research is an independent public-private partnership, which facilitates and enhances HIV research by framing difficult issues and helping to establish research strategies. Its members include governmental agencies such as NIH and FDA, private industry including big pharma and biotech, academic researchers from leading institutions, providers, foundations and the advocacy community. The Forum is the only organization that regularly brings together such a wide spectrum of participants for open, collaborative discussion in a neutral setting.The Forum has been instrumental in moving the field forward. It has led the way in defining research programs for therapeutic vaccines, metabolic abnormalities, salvage therapy, and prevention.With its initial 5-year funding mandate coming up for renewal, the Forum needed a business plan to serve as the basis for its funding request and to organize its programs for the future. David Williams led the effort to objectively document the Forum’s value to its varied constituencies, demonstrate the Forum’s uniqueness, develop a five-year financial plan, and lay out a compelling argument for continued funding in an environment of tightening budgets. Health Business Group activities included interviewing Executive Committee members, analyzing the results of past projects, benchmarking other HIV-related organizations and public private partnerships, financial planning, and business plan writing.Since completing the business plan, Health Business Group has continued in an advisory role to help the Forum implement its plan and recruit new members. The Forum has grown and prospered, and has become an integral part of the University of California Berkeley’s School of Public Health.