Global observational HIV research is challenged by the significant effort required to collect and harmonize profoundly different data from HIV care and treatment sites around the world. The Harmonist project proposes to develop and share methods and tools for standardizing and coordinating multi-site research collaborations, including standards-enabled tools for secure data exchange, data quality checking, and scientific project and portfolio management. The International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) and Regional Prospective Observational Research for Tuberculosis (RePORT) International consortia are participating in the development, testing, and evaluation of this research resource.