This article provides an overview of the special issue of the periodical "Aids Education and Prevention," which focuses on the role of community collaboration research in the development of prevention evaluation research and intervention capacity on a local level. It deals with a project from the California Collaborative Research Initiative, a partnership between the California State Office of AIDS and the Universitywide AIDS Research Program at the University of California. Projects included in the special issue are the following: community research and strategies for using community collaborations as a process and mechanism for building multidirectional capacity for researcher, local health departments, community-based organizations and communities.