The Network Community Advisory Board (NCAB) represents community concerns in the ACTG. This all-volunteer group was formed in May of 1990 to provide a forum for community interests in the ACTG and to provide the researchers and staff of the ACTG with ideas from the community. The mission of the NCAB is to provide meaningful and broad community input into the scientific efforts, operations, and activities of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, uninhibited by any perceived conflict of interest. The NCAB works for the community and with the ACTG.

The NCAB supports investigation into the pathogenesis and treatment of HIV. To this end, the NCAB strives to ensure that the ACTG scientific priorities reflect the pressing needs of the entire spectrum of people with HIV/AIDS, and to protect the interests of research subjects in ACTG studies. The NCAB seeks to represent the interests of the diverse communities impacted by the HIV epidemic into the clinical research mission of the central AIDS Clinical Trials Group.

Specifically, the NCAB advocates for as broad inclusion as possible into the full range of ACTG clinical trials and for innovative solutions to include traditionally under-represented populations in ACTG studies. The Network Community Advisory Board serves as active participants of the Executive Committee, Science Committees, and Resource Committees. As members of each protocol team the Network Community Advisory Board members articulate community perspectives relevant to protocol design, development, and accrual and retention of participants.

Members for the NCAB are selected by the New Member Subcommittee based on the need of the NCAB to retain a broad degree of experience (including living with HIV), various areas of expertise, and diversity including geographic, racial, gender, and ethnicity. The NCAB strives to maintain a membership that can both effectively represent the interests of the larger HIV community and reflect the various communities impacted by this epidemic.

The NCAB also works closely with the local ACTU Community Advisory Boards (CABs), to facilitate the transfer of concerns between the local communities and the national ACTG and its committees. All NCAB members are active members of their local CABs, where feasible, and overall, at least 80% of all CCG members are required to be active members of their local ACTU, or subunit, CAB.