About the Hope Clinic


The Hope Clinic services the greater Atlanta area as part of the division of infectious disease at Emory School of Medicine located in Decatur, GA. As the clinical trial arm of the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory's Hope Clinic helps to create the next generation of clinical and translational researchers. We work on many infections, including influenza, yellow fever, HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as emerging and re-emerging, such as Ebola, Zika, and coronavirus.

Research Sponsorship comes from the federal government (NIH, CDC), the biomedical industry, the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), institutional resources, and philanthropic contributions, including Action Cycling Atlanta – sponsor of the AIDS Vaccine 200 annual bike ride. The Emory-CDC HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) and the Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) are two major NIH grants awarded to the Hope Clinic.

Learn more about the Emory-CDC CTU

Learn more about the VTEU

We like to say that our clinical trial volunteers and donors are heroes—because they are.  Their commitment and altruism is instrumental in advancing health and preventing diseases.  For clinical trials, we rely on motivated community members to volunteer for our studies.  As a nonprofit organization, we rely on the private philanthropy of individuals, corporations, and foundations to continue our vital work.  We hope you will consider lending support to an area that interests you.  Please join us in our quest to improve health and defeat life threatening infections, whether as a study volunteer, an advocate, or a donor.

The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center (EVC) is an international Center of Excellence in clinical and translational research in infectious diseases vaccines, treatment, and prevention.  We are located in Decatur, GA and we work with volunteers in the greater Atlanta and surrounding areas.

Our Vision is the improvement of the health of our community through infectious disease research, training, education, and service.

The mission of the Hope Clinic is to conduct human research studies and clinical trials for infectious diseases of public health importance; e.g., HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, seasonal and pandemic influenza, coronaviruses, yellow fever, diarrheal diseases (C difficile, rotavirus, norovirus, shigella), Staphylococcus aureus, bioterror agents (anthrax, smallpox, tularemia), human papillomavirus, and others.  The clinical studies encompass vaccines, treatments, prevention, community-based research, and laboratory-based translational human immunology.

The Hope Clinic is part of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine as well as the Emory Vaccine Center.  The clinic is an international center for excellence in clinical research, infectious disease, treatment, and prevention.  The Hope Clinic’s vision is to improve the health of patients and communities through infectious diseases, vaccines, research, training, education and service.

The Hope Clinic was founded in 2002 as the clinical arm of the Emory Vaccine Center.  At that time, the clinic was located in the heart of downtown Decatur at the corner of Church and Commerce Street.  The space was quite limited with only 4 exam rooms and a lab that was the size of a large closet.  The original Executive Director of the clinic was Dr. Mark Feinberg who lead from 2002 – 2004, followed by Dr. Carlos del Rio from 2004 to 2006.  The clinic staff consisted of an average of 10 -15 employees during this time.  Dr. Mark Mulligan served as the clinic's Executive Director from 2006-2018. Following Dr. Mulligan, Dr. Nadine Rouphael became and remains the Executive Director of The Hope Clinic.  

As the Hope Clinic obtained additional research funding it started to outgrow the original space.  Sponsorship comes from the NIH, CDC, biomedical industry, Georgia Research Alliance, industry resources, and philanthropic contributions (including the AIDS Vaccine 200 annual bike ride).  The Emory-CDC HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) and the Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) are two major NIH grants awarded to The Hope Clinic.  In 2013 The Hope Clinic moved to its current location at 500 Irvin Court, Suite 200 in Decatur, Georgia.  We have grown to over 100 employees and now occupy a much larger space that includes many exam rooms, an Investigational Drug Pharmacy, a large conference room and a large space dedicated to our research and processing labs.  The clinic is continuing to grow.

The Hope Clinic relies on motivated community member volunteers.  We believe that our research volunteers are heroes and their commitment is instrumental in advancing health and preventing diseases.  As a nonprofit organization The Hope Clinic relies on the private philanthropy of individuals, corporations and foundations to continue its vital work.  We hope you will consider supporting us in an area that interests you.  Please join the Hope Clinic in our quest to improve health and defeat life threatening infections, whether as a study volunteer, an advocate, or a donor.  Contact us at vaccine@emory.edu to discover how you can get involved!

  • The Hope Clinic was founded in 2002 as the clinical arm of the Emory Vaccine Center.
  • The Hope Clinic became an NIH-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) site in 2006.
  • The Hope Clinic became an NIH-funded Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) in 2007.
  • The Emory Vaccinology Training Program, an NIH T32 program, was established in 2009.  To date more than 30 postdoctoral fellows have been trained as the next generation of leaders in vaccinology.
  • The Hope Clinic became the Clinical Core for the Cooperative Centers on Human Immunology (CCHI) in 2009.
  • The Hope Clinic became the Clinical Core for the Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC) in 2010.
  • The Hope Clinic moved in 2013 to a new, greatly expanded translational research facility (18,000 square feet for a clinic, laboratory, and administrative space).
  • A new HIV NIH T32 program was established in 2021.
  • The Hope Clinic currently has ten faculty and almost a hundred staff members working here.

Faculty & Staff

The Emory Hope Clinic employs an accomplished and diverse set of staff and faculty to lead new and innovative clinical research studies.

Learn More About Our Staff

The Clinical Trials Unit

The Emory-CDC HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) integrates four HIV/AIDS clinical research sites based in the US, Kenya, and Thailand.

More Info on the CTU

Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit

For over 4 decades, the VTEU has been a collaborative network readily conducting clinical trials of vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases.

Explore the VTEU

Hope Clinic in the News

The Hope Clinic’s research efforts & accomplishments have been shared in the news by various media sources and academic journals.

Read News About the Hope Clinic

Contact Us

Contact the Emory Hope Clinic if you’d like to participate in a study or find out more about ongoing research.

Get in Touch with Us

Location

The Emory University Hope Clinic can be located at 500 Irvin Court, Suite 200 Decatur, GA 30030.

Find the Hope Clinic