PROJECT SUMMARY ? DEVELOPMENTAL CORE Director: Ahmet Hoke, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience Co-Director: Amanda Brown PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology Executive/review committee for this Core: Drs. Hoke, Brown, McArthur, Slusher, Pletnikov and Sacktor The JHU NIMH Center Developmental Core was established to promote innovative, high-risk, high-impact Neuro-AIDS research through the use of Pilot Project Grants. In the previous cycle, the Developmental Core funded 29 Pilot Projects, which led to 37 extramural applications, of which 21 were funded, highlighting the success of the Core. In order to continue to the goal of encouraging highly innovative research, especially in therapeutics development, the Development Core will promote cross-disciplinary collaborations and fund innovative projects, particularly from investigators new to the neuroAIDS field. In this regard, this Core has also collaborated with existing JHU programs to support trainees from under represented backgrounds in the field of neuroaids. The Development Core will accomplish its goals through a competitive grant submission process and a mentorship program that will include the use of an individual development plan (IDP), particularly for new investigators. The success of the Developmental Core will be closely monitored by evaluating the successes and outcomes of the previous awardees in applying and securing additional grant funding and in career advancement. Importantly, our trainees research projects on trafficking of noncoding RNAs, sleep disorders and cognitive function, amyloid imaging in aged HIV+ individuals, and the role of platelets in the establishment of latent viral reservoirs, illustrate how the Developmental Core has served as an avenue to usher the JHU NIMH Center into new research directions.