The role of Community Advisory Boards (CABs) in Project Eban.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the theoretical principles that guided the establishment of Project Eban's Community Advisory Boards (CABs), their functions, and composition; the selection and recruitment processes; lessons learned; and recommendations on the use of CABs in multisite HIV clinical trial studies.


METHODS
In the first year of Project Eban's implementation, each of the 4 sites formed a local CAB. Member recruitment took place during the first 6 months of the study. On average, each site's CAB consisted of 13-19 stakeholders, with a total of 62 members for the multisite study, including leaders of HIV/AIDS-related community-based organizations (CBOs), hospital-based HIV/AIDS service providers, HIV/AIDS network leaders in minority communities, CBOs that serve predominantly black communities, and consumers.


RESULTS
Each of the CAB members has expressed a strong commitment to assisting in the conduct of the research. CABs are integral to the success of the study, and their input is highly respected and used to improve the quality of the research.


CONCLUSIONS
This article highlights the importance of CABs in the conduct of HIV multisite clinical trials and their roles in making the study culturally congruent to meet the needs of the black community in dealing with the HIV epidemic.
D026683:Advisory Committees / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology; D035881:Compensation and Redress; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006287:Health Planning Guidelines; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D009315:National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.); D010560:Personnel Selection; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012107:Research Design; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States