The Midwest D-CFAR is fostering collaborations between academics, public health practitioners, and people affected by HIV to end the epidemic in Missouri and the surrounding region. One way we are doing this is through co-designing innovations, a process of idea generation and refinement we facilitate annually. 

At our open call, we solicit applications under a theme that will align with national priorities for ending the HIV epidemic. Submissions will include short descriptions or images/videos in response to a specific prompt (e.g., “how might we end the HIV epidemic in Missouri?”). Anyone can respond to this call (and we hope that you will)! A community steering committee made up of researchers, caregivers, government officials, and young people defines the open call theme, timeline, and other details. A panel of judges will identify exceptional ideas received in response to the open call, based on innovation, relevance to EHE goals in Missouri, and feasibility to implement. The top five exceptional ideas will be integrated into existing D-CFAR programming to take proposals from the ideation to design phase.