UCLA AIDS researchers receive $3 million in grants toward ending HIV in vulnerable populations

The UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services (CHIPTS) and the UCLA-Charles R. Drew University Center for AIDS Research (UCLA-CDU CFAR) have received $3 million in awards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop HIV prevention efforts for vulnerable populations.

The grants, part of the CDC’s Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, will fund seven projects addressing ways to implement prevention programs among high incidence populations. Projects will be led by researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, the UCLA School of Nursing, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, San Diego State University, and California State University, Long Beach.

The projects are as follows:

• Implementation Strategies to Promote Equitable Dissemination of Long-Acting injectable PrEP to Black/Latino MSM (BLMSM) and Transgender Women (TGW) in Los Angeles

This project will use a community-engaged approach to promote the equitable dissemination of long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis among Black and Latino men who have sex with men and transgender women in Los Angeles County through community workshops and community-derived, culturally appropriate messaging.

• De-Medicalizing PrEP by Partnering with House and Ball Community Using Social Work and Guiding Principles: Prioritizing Young Black LGBTQ+ Individuals

This study will facilitate the involvement of a locally trusted social work provider agency and members of the House & Ball Community health center to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of non-medicalized social work and community engagement strategies.

• Financially Incentivizing HIV Prevention among High-Incidence Populations in LA County: Preparing for Implementation

This project aims to collect pre-implementation data in order to design an HIV prevention conditional cash transfers (CCT) intervention and implementation strategy for young Black and Latino cisgender men who have sex with men in Los Angeles County.

• Applying Behavioral Economic Incentives to Support Implementation of PrEP in a Trans Community Center

This study will be the first to test three discrete behavioral economic strategies for implementing PrEP services in a Trans Community Center. The proposed supplement will leverage PrEP Well, an ongoing 3-year California HIV/AIDS Research Program-funded program to bring comprehensive and gender-affirming PrEP services to scale in a first-of-its-kind transgender community center.

• Addressing Intersectional Oppression in Asian Pacific Americans with HIV in Southern California: An Implementation Science Framework

The purpose of this study is to collaborate with the local Asian and Pacific Americans with HIV (APAWH) community to adapt and evaluate the appropriateness, acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of a 4-session, 4-week social justice oriented, family informed self-management intervention to promote health among APAWH in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

• Implementing a Community-Engaged Equity Approach to Identify Barriers and Facilitators to the PrEP Care Continuum in Long Beach, CA

This study is designed to identify individual and structural barriers and facilitators affecting engagement in the PrEP care continuum among Black and Latino men who have sex with men and transwomen in Long Beach, Calif.

• Understanding the Implementation of SB 159: Pharmacist Delivered Pre- and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis in Three High Priority EHE Counties in CA (Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties)

Pharmacist-delivered PrEP/PEP has the potential to expand access to key biomedical prevention strategies under the EHE Prevention Pillar. This study will inform best practices for pharmacies seeking to expand service delivery to include PrEP/PEP and help to identify what changes in law, policy, and/or funding, if any, will be required to propel pharmacist-delivered PrEP/PEP in California.

UCLA CHIPTS also received renewal funding for the UCLA Rapid, Rigorous, Relevant Implementation Science Hub, which provides leadership and support for HIV-related implementation research emphasizing pragmatic study designs and methods that address health equity and produce sustainable solutions.

By Enrique Rivero for UCLA Health