Dr. Butler was awarded a R01, Research Project Grant, in September 2016.

R01 - Multi-Sectoral Agricultural Intervention to Improve Nutrition, Health, and Developmental Outcomes of HIV-infected and Affected Children in Western Kenya
Food insecurity and undernutrition are highly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, and are important determinants of poor health outcomes among HIV-affected children. This cluster randomized controlled trial will examine the impact of a multisectoral agricultural intervention on somatic growth, health, and neurobehavioral development outcomes of HIV-affected children age 6- to 59-months old in Nyanza Region, Western Kenya. The project has the potential to demonstrate the role of sustainable agricultural and economic interventions in improving the health and developmental trajectories of HIV-affected children in resource limited settings in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Caspi was awarded two R01s, Research Project Grants, one in April 2017 and another in February 2018.

R01 - A Natural Experiment Evaluating the Effect of a Minimum Wage Increase on Obesity and Diet-Related Outcome
At present, millions of workers in the United States earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 or less. Low-income individuals are at an increased risk for obesity and related chronic diseases; raising the minimum wage has the potential to affect obesity by reducing many of its risk factors. This R01 tests the effect of an increase in the local minimum wage on changes in obesity-related risk over 5 years.

R01 - A Multi-Component Intervention in the Hunger Relief Network to Improve Diet Among Adults Experiencing Food Insecurity
The hunger safety net fills a critical need among low-income adults with diet-related chronic disease. The challenges faced within the hunger relief network require a multimodal approach for improvement. This study evaluates the impact of a multicomponent intervention, targeting the supply of healthy food in food pantries and encouraging the selection of healthier items, on client diet and cardiovascular disease risk.

Dr. Copenhaver was awarded a R01, Research Project Grant, in August 2017.

R01 - Testing an Integrated Bio-Behavioral Primary HIV Prevention Intervention Among High-Risk People Who Use Drugs
A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is being used to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of CHRP- BB - an integrated bio-behavioral approach that incorporates the use of PrEP with an evidence-based behavioral approach aimed at enhancing PrEP adherence and HIV risk reduction among high risk PWUD. If efficacious and cost-effective, the CHRP-BB intervention could be rapidly disseminated for implementation as part of routine care within common drug treatment programs – a true integration of HIV prevention science and drug treatment services.

Dr. Eaton was awarded two R01s, Research Projects Grants, one in September 2016 and another in May 2021. She has also been awarded a R34, Planning Grant Award, in July 2018.

R01 - Novel Stigma/Structural Interventions for Increasing HIV/STI Testing Among BMSM
The alarmingly high rates of HIV/STI observed among Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) necessitate a new model for engaging BMSM. New approaches include addressing stigma related concerns and structural barriers in order to increase HIV/STI testing uptake. The proposed research is 2 x 2 factorial design to test an intervention that is aimed at increasing HIV/STI testing uptake among BMSM; our design includes testing HIV/STI stigma focused counseling, and online HIV/STI test counseling with at-home, self-administered HIV and STI test kits.

R01 - Stigma and Substance Use as Barriers to PrEP Linkage, Uptake, Adherence, and Persistence among BMSM
The proposed research aims to assess the multiple forms and paths of stigma and substance use as they relate to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use for HIV prevention. How stigma and an evolving public health landscape impact PrEP use among BMSM who use substances is unknown. The current application focuses on addressing critical and novel questions to improving the essential building blocks of biomedical prevention approaches by providing crucial information for enhancing interventions to lower HIV prevalence among substance using BMSM.

R34 - Unified Approach to Address PrEP Cascade for BMSM
Stigma related to PrEP interest and uptake, and medication cognitions related to PrEP adherence and persistence remain strong barriers to improving PrEP use. To address these areas, we are proposing to develop an intervention grounded in two novel cognitive/behavioral theories: the HIV Stigma Framework and the Medication Necessity-Concerns Framework. Advances in biomedical HIV prevention, such as the availability of PrEP, will only impact the HIV epidemic if concurrent efforts are made to address the social and behavioral challenges that are associated with achieving sufficient coverage of PrEP among individuals at elevated risk for HIV.

Dr. Fein was awarded a R01, Research Project Grant, in December 2017.

R01 - Optimal Outcomes in ASD: Adult Functioning, Predictors, and Mechanisms
Some individuals meet gold-standard clinical criteria for ASD prior to age 5 but end up later in development with no symptoms of ASD, and IQ and adaptive skills in the average range. This study evaluates this “optimal outcome” (OO) in two groups: (1) those who participated in our OO research study as teens, now young adults, allowing us to evaluate how they navigate the difficult transition into independence and young adulthood; and (2) those who were diagnosed by us with ASD at age two and re-evaluated at age four, now in their teens, allowing us to identify which of this cohort has achieved optimal outcome, and thus to identify early predictors of OO. Both cohorts are compared to age-, gender-, and NVIQ-matched individuals with current ASD and with typical development (TD). We hypothesize that the young adults with OO will experience mild delays in adult milestones such as finishing higher education and obtaining competitive employment, along with greater anxiety, especially simple phobias, and ADHD symptoms.

Dr. Gans was awarded a R01, Research Project Grant, in March 2022.

R01 - Testing a Multilevel, Multicomponent, Multigenerational Dietary Intervention to Improve Southeast Asian Children's Diets
Relative to other racial/ethnic groups, Southeast Asian (SEA) children (specifically Hmong, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Laotian) experience higher rates of diet-related chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes risk factors. We will leverage our a longstanding partnership with the Center for SEA to test the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an innovative multilevel, multicomponent, multigenerational dietary intervention with SEA families with children ages 6 to 11. This intervention integrates family-based nutrition education, motivational interviewing, descriptive dietary norms messaging, and healthy eating financial incentive coupons to improve children’s diet quality (primary) and body mass index and HbA1c (secondary).

Dr. Gibbons was awarded a R01, Research Project Grant, in August 2018.

R01 - Contextual and Health Behavior Effects on Epigenetic Aging Among African Americans
As the public impact of age-related diseases has grown over time, it has become apparent that improving the quality of longer lives requires further exploration of the causes of accelerated epigenetic aging (epi-A), which forecasts heightened risk for all-cause morbidity and mortality. This proposal seeks funding to conduct new assays on existing blood samples from members of the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS), and to collect another wave of blood from these individuals, in order to assess the impact of various stressors and supports on epi-A (at age 28) and changes in epi-A from age 28 to age 33.

Dr. Gorin was awarded a R21, Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award, in September 2018.

R21 - Is Long-Term Maintenance Worth the Wait? Using Real Time Data Capture to Examine
Delayed Discounting as a Putative Target of Physical Activity Adherence in Weight Loss Maintenance Interventions
Weight loss maintenance is a formidable challenge in obesity management. Understanding the mechanisms of action that drive behavioral adherence is essential to developing more effective long-term interventions. Using an experimental medicine approach, this study will test whether delayed discounting (i.e., the tendency to devalue larger future rewards in favor of immediate rewards) is engaged by a novel future thinking visualization procedure and whether engagement predicts physical activity outcomes during a maintenance intervention.

Dr. Kalichman was awarded three R01s, Research Project Grants, from 2016 through 2020. He was also awarded a R21, Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award, in August 2019.

R01 - Unified Intervention to Impact HIV Care Continuum
Retention in HIV care and persistent adherence to antiretroviral therapy effectively manages HIV infection, suppresses HIV replication, preserves the immune system, and reduces HIV infectiousness. Unfortunately, young people living with HIV who use alcohol and other drugs are often out of care or at risk of dropping out of HIV care. The proposed research will conduct a pragmatic adaptive clinical trial to determine the number of theory-based behavioral counseling sessions needed to engage young individuals in HIV care, and compare two text messaging interventions designed to support long-term retention in HIV care, medication adherence, and HIV viral suppression.

R01 - Intervention to Improve HIV Care Retention and Antiretroviral Adherence in Stigmatized Environments
Retention in care and persistent adherence to antiretroviral therapy are necessary for the successful treatment of HIV infection. HIV-related stigma is a known impediment to the care and health outcomes of people living with HIV. The proposed study will test theory-based interventions designed to manage HIV stigma in order to improve care retention and medication adherence in communities with high-levels of HIV-related stigma.

R01 - Dose Determination Trial for Implementing Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions
The proposed research will conduct the first dose-determination trial to find the optimal number of behavioral counseling sessions (dose) needed to achieve and sustain HIV suppression. The results of this study will determine how much intervention is needed for whom and at what cost to guide health policy and implementation of behavioral interventions designed to improve durable viral suppression.

R21 - Developing a Novel Approach to Assessing Intersectional Stigma to Advance HIV Prevention Research with Black Men Who Have Sex with Men
Stigma experiences attributed to multiple personal characteristics including one’s race, sexual orientation and HIV-risk, known as intersectional stigma, is a significant impediment to HIV testing and prevention among Black men who have sex with men (BMSM ). Despite its known importance, there are no empirically developed measures of intersectional stigma for BMSM at risk for HIV. This study will develop and evaluate a novel approach to assessing intersectional stigma for BMSM at risk for HIV.

Dr. Leahey was awarded two R01s, Research Project Grants, in August 2017 and in September 2019.

R01 - Peer Support for Weight Loss Maintenance
New approaches to weight loss maintenance are needed to provide individuals with the continuous care necessary to sustain health behavior change. Patient-provided treatment eliminates all professional involvement and thus holds substantial promise as a cost-effective method for providing sustainable, continuous care. This study will be the first to test the efficacy of a patient-provided intervention for weight loss maintenance and examine sustainability and cost-effectiveness.

R01 - Using Behavioral Economic Strategies to Address Obesity in Economically Disadvantaged Adults
Adults from economically disadvantaged backgrounds experience alarming rates of obesity and associated health ailments (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease). To date, there are surprisingly few effective interventions for treating obesity in this vulnerable population. This study will be the first to test a new behavioral economics weight loss intervention designed to uniquely meet the needs of economically disadvantaged adults and, therefore, produce clinically meaningful weight losses in this high-risk, underserved group.

Dr. Pagoto was awarded a R34, Planning Grant Award, in September 2020.

R34 - Building Habits Together: Feasibility Trial of an Integrated Mobile and Social Network Weight Loss Intervention
Technology delivered weight loss programs have had modest impact so far with a major challenge being participant engagement. We propose to build upon our previous work to create a behavioral weight loss program in which integrated technologies facilitate meaningful participant engagement and the execution of evidence-based behavioral strategies for weight loss.

Dr. Park was awarded a R01, Research Project Grant, in June 2020 and a R34, Planning Grant Award, in September 2019. She was also awarded a U24 in February 2021.

R34 - Emotion Regulation Interventions for Preventing Collegiate Escalations in Drinking: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Establish Acceptability, Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy

MPI: Michael Fendrich, PhD and Beth Russell, PhD

This study focuses on emotion regulation as the target mechanism for the prevention of alcohol use disorders. Our results will provide valuable information necessary to implement a larger clinical trial focused on rigorously examining what type of emotion regulation interventions works best for whom. The subsequent interventions hold promise in preventing campus alcohol use and abuse, an important contribution to public health.

R01 - Emotion Regulation as a Primary Mechanism of Action in Yoga Interventions for Chronic Low Back Pain: An RCT Testing Biological and Psychological Pathways

MPI: Angela Starkweather, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, CNRN, FAAN

By identifying specific mechanisms through which yoga influences pain, the proposed study will advance the scientific study of yoga for multiple pain-related conditions, strengthen the evidence base on yoga for CLBP (facilitating healthcare providers' confidence and likelihood in prescribing yoga), and provide specific directions for optimizing yoga to increase its effectiveness for treating CLBP, one of the most prevalent and costly health conditions in the US.

U24 - Network to Advance the Study of Mechanisms Underlying Mind-Body Interventions and Measurement of Emotional Wellbeing

MPI: Sandra Chafouleas, PhD and Fumiko Hoeft, MD, PhD

The proposal will: (1) establish a broad network that brings together a corps of interdisciplinary researchers to establish innovative and rigorous scientific bases to understand emotional well-being (EWB); (2) contribute important foundational knowledge of EWB by advancing a new generation of measurement and mechanistic research together; and (3) ultimately provide important information about understanding and promoting EWB across the life course including the use of mind-body interventions (MBIs), risk and protective factors as well as windows of opportunity to promote EWB.

Dr. Shrestha was awarded three R21, Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Awards, in 2021.

R21 - Integrated Rapid Access to HIV Prevention Program for People Who Inject Drugs (iRaPID)
The opioid epidemic in the United States, especially the rise in injection drug use, necessitates the need for novel strategies to reduce the risk of HIV infection in people who inject drugs (PWID). The proposed research aims to jump-start the HIV prevention cascade by developing and pilot-testing a nurse-delivered, integrated rapid access to HIV prevention program for PWID (iRaPID) program that incorporates same-day access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and opiate agonist therapy (OAT). Findings will inform the development of innovative and tailored primary HIV prevention strategy to address co-occurring sexual and drug risk behaviors and to enhance the HIV prevention gap in PWID amid the ongoing opioid crisis.

R21 - Development and Testing of a Mobile Application to Enhance HIV Prevention Cascade in Malaysian MSM
The proposed research focuses on developing and prospectively testing the efficacy of a clinic-affiliated app (myCareLink) to deliver an integrated HIV prevention intervention in Malaysian MSM. We expect that this project will lead to the development of an innovative and culturally tailored app that will promote HIV testing and linkage to PrEP by addressing co-morbid psychiatric and substance use disorder (P/SUD) in Malaysian MSM.

R21 - Improving HIV Testing and PrEP for Transgender Women Through mHealth
The proposed research focuses on developing and testing a clinic-affiliated app (MyLink2Care) to deliver an integrated HIV prevention intervention that incorporates tailored HIV prevention and gender-affirming care services to TGW in Malaysia. We expect that this project will lead to the development of an innovative and culturally tailored app that will address multilevel barriers to HIV testing and PrEP uptake in Malaysian TGW.

Dr. Watson was awarded a R03, Small Grant Award, in September 2019.

R03 - SGM Youth Substance Use: Subgroup Differences, Risk, and Protective Factors
This study examines how sexual and gender minority youth experiences of distal and proximal minority stressors (e.g., discrimination, expectations of rejection) are related to substance use (i.e., alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and polysubstance use) and the potential protective effects of support from their families and teachers. The investigation of important within-group differences among SGM youth on the basis of intersecting social identities (sex, sexual identity, gender identity, and race/ethnicity) will identify who among SGM youth and under what conditions SGM youth are most vulnerable to substance use. The examination of both risk and protective factors highlight critical points for policy as well as individual-level prevention strategies to eliminate sexual orientation and gender identity-related disparities in substance use and foster positive development for SGM youth.