This project will bring together leading social science researchers from a range of disciplines at a meeting at the Frati Center of the Bellagio Conference Center to assess the historical development and the current state of social science research on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as to determine the extent to which, at this stage of the pandemic, social science theory and knowledge is fully and appropriately applied to the design and implementation of HIV/AIDS interventions and programs. A background document co-written by Dr. Richard Parker and Dr. Peter Aggleton, a social psychologist based in the Thomas Coram Research Unit of the Institute of Education at the University of London will serve as a departure point for the meeting, which will provide an opportunity for detailed analysis and discussion of the contributions that social science research has made to the response to HIV/AIDS thus far, the key gaps and challenges that should be prioritized in seeking to respond to the pandemic in the future, and the training and support of social science researchers and the development of research institutions, particularly in the countries most affected by the evolving pandemic. Finally, it will seek to provide insight and recommendations that may be useful to the staff of the Rockefeller Foundation in thinking about the continued development of the Foundation's programmatic response to HIV/AIDS in the coming years. Following the actual realization of the meeting in late June of 2005, Professor Parker and Professor Aggleton will make final revisions to the draft background paper that was prepared and circulated prior to the meeting. Dissemination plans for this paper will be finalized based on in-put from meeting participants and in full consultation with Rockefeller Foundation staff. In addition to this finalized paper, which will constitute one of the major outputs of the project, two additional reports will be developed by Professor Parker and his staff: (1) a summary of the meeting based on the proceedings and discussion held in Bellagio, and (2) a set of preliminary recommendations, based on meeting proceedings, concerning ways in which the Rockefeller Foundation might potentially support the development of future work in this field through its various programmatic activities.