The Barbara Mc Clintock Project to Cure AIDS: Act Up’s Detailed Plan for an All Out Research Effort to Find a Cure for AIDS

14

people with AIDS and HIV from diverse communities will be in the majority to insure that
Project staff are ultimately accountable to people directly affected by the course and outcome
of the research. Council members will step down and be replaced by new members on a regular
basis.
The Council will set policy for and oversee research priorities. It will develop guidelines for
and oversee the hiring of primary research staff, ensuring both high quality (scientific credentials
and experience) and a diversity of disciplines and perspectives. While certain staff will have
pursued specific AIDS theories, this cannot be a necessary prerequisite for hiring; indeed, it will
be important to have some primary research staff members who approach the subject freshly.
The Council will have the power to create new research positions when necessary and to remove
scientists from their positions after due process and appropriate review of their work.
The Council will be charged with evaluating the work of the Project, as well as the pace of the
research, to insure that it matches the urgency of the epidemic. Initially, and throughout the life
of the Project, the Council, in cooperation with the primary research staff, will solicit and
evaluate all new theories developed outside the Project. It will direct the Project scientists to
evaluate and respond to deserving proposals and to devise new research plans where desirable.
The Policy Council will adopt strict, detailed codes governing medical ethics and conflicts of
interest (according to 2c) and will monitor compliance with these codes. Project scientists will
report directly to the Council about the progress of their work in a manner to be determined by
the Council. The Council will report directly to the President about the progress of the Project.
Council meetings, including those at which all decisions are made, will always be public and
will be held at least quarterly, with time allotted for public comment. In addition, the Council
will hold an annual public hearing on its priorities and progress. A complete report of the
Project's goals and accomplishments will be updated by the Council, submitted to the President
and released to the public at least once quarterly. The Council will evaluate its structure and
process at least once per year and make changes which allow it to function more effectively.
2. The Coordinating Committee
In addition to an overall Policy Council, there must be day-to-day leadership in the Project. It
cannot be governed by research bureaucrats or a single person who might create an entrenched
research agenda. Therefore, the community of scientists selected for the Project will elect three
of their members to serve as the Coordinating Committee for the Project, and determine whether
these positions should be permanent or rotating. It is here that the McClintock Project must
differ from the structures and process of military projects such as the Manhattan and Apollo
projects. The development of an AIDS cure requires an open and cooperative research
environment with scientists from different disciplines and perspectives interacting in a creative
and free manner yet focused on a set of shared goals.
The Coordinating Committee will be responsible for facilitating communication among the
different scientists working on the Project, for evaluating the progress of its work, and for
convening the entire staff on some regular schedule (or when necessary) to evaluate the progress