The CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS) research network is the first electronic medical records-based resource network poised to integrate clinical data from the large and diverse population of HIV-infected persons in the modern HAART era.  CNICS was funded in 2006 as an R24 award to provide a research infrastructure to support HIV clinical outcomes and comparative effectiveness research using data collected from 27,407 patients (Oct 2012) receiving care at one of 8 US-funded Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) sites. CNICS directly reflects the outcomes of clinical decisions and management options made daily in the care of HIV infected individuals. Unlike data collected in structured interviews or retrospective medical record review, CNICS captures a broader range of information associated with the rapidly changing course of HIV disease management. The flexibility of this consortium enables CNICS to address scientific questions that cannot be answered through other collaborative cohorts. The greatest distinction between CNICS and other cohorts is its ability to provide peer-reviewed-open access to a rich and rapidly evolving clinical platform for research that prospectively collects comprehensive patient data including validated outcomes, longitudinal resistance data, and detailed PROs with readily available biological specimens.  By actively encouraging the use of CNICS data by other investigators, there is enormous potential for significant contributions to emerging clinical, translational, and social-behavioral research over the next decade as the HIV epidemic continues to grow.

Acknowledging CNICS: Support the CNICS mission by acknowledging the network in publications, abstracts, grant proposals and presentations.  Wording suggestions include: This research was supported by the CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems-CNICS, an NIH funded program (R24 AI067039) that was made possible by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

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