Early Planning and Grant Preparation

• Brainstorm on research ideas, funding opportunities, and framing specific aims to address NIH AIDS priorities
• Discuss implications of previous study findings to inform new grant applications
• Provide consultation on selecting study designs and methods, appropriate SBS measures, and data analysis approaches
• Provide administrative support, including proofreading, compiling supplemental materials, and providing letters of support from the SBS Core

Peer Review

• Convene panel of Duke researchers to review and provide feedback on draft NIH grant applications prior to submission

Post-Award Consultation

• Provide consultation and continuous support during study implementation, including efficient study startup and project management strategies

Training and Capacity Building

• Provide scientific guidance in designing and implementing quantitative and qualitative research, including reviewing survey questions and items, refining qualitative question guides, programming online survey platforms and data management systems (e.g., REDCap), training qualitative interviewers, planning for interview transcription, and identifying approaches to qualitative data analysis
• Partner with Duke’s QualCore to provide qualitative research guidance

Networking and Community Engagement

• Bring together investigators from across disciplines
• Build ties with community partners to share ideas and discuss opportunities to initiate new research meaningful to communities
• Support community outreach in Durham and other research sites, including in global settings, and assist researchers in the community engagement process

Mentoring

• Provide mentorship to new CFAR members who are early stage investigators
• Connect junior investigators with senior faculty

Dissemination of Study Findings and Manuscript Preparation

• Provide suggestions on dissemination materials
• Offer advice on community feedback sessions
• Provide consultations on scientific journals for submission
• Offer assistance with manuscript review and formatting

Amy Corneli, PhD, MPH
Core Director
amy.corneli@duke.edu

Dr. Corneli is a Professor in Population Health Sciences and in Medicine, a Faculty Member in the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and a Faculty Affiliate in the Duke Global Health Institute. She partners with community groups to conduct qualitative, mixed-method, intervention, and implementation science research related to PrEP with populations who face racism, discrimination, bias, or unequal treatment within the healthcare system and society due to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status in the U.S. South and in sub-Saharan Africa.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Corneli.

Michael Relf, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
Core Associate Director
michael.relf@duke.edu

Dr. Relf is the Mary T. Champagne Distinguished Professor and Interm Dean at the Duke University School of Nursing. He is also a Research Professor in the Duke Global Health Institute. Dr. Relf’s research focuses on the psychosocial aspects of HIV using mixed-methods particularly focusing on intimate partner violence; HIV-related stigma, intersectional stigma, and experiences with everyday discrimination among persons living with HIV; and interventions to promote engagement in HIV-oriented primary medical care and disclosure.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Relf.                 

Sarah M. Wilson, PhD
Core Associate Director
sarah.wilson@duke.edu

Dr. Wilson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Population Health Sciences. Dr. Wilson's research focuses on access to care and systems-level healthcare change to improve inequities in populations who experience systemic discrimination, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), individuals with low income, sexual and gender minorities, and specific populations of U.S. Military Veterans.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Wilson.

Rachel Austin, MPH
Core Coordinator
rachel.austin@duke.edu 

Rachel is Coordinator for the SBS Core and a Research Assistant in QualCore. She faciltaites all services provided by the core. Her research interests include women’s sexual and reproductive health, particularly gender-based violence prevention.

Click here to learn more about Rachel.

NIH Funded Grants

Title: Cluster Randomized controlled trial of Using PrEP, Doing it for Ourselves [UPDOs] Protective Styles: A salon-based intervention to improve PrEP uptake among Black cis-gender women.
Principal Investigator: Schenita Randolph, Ph.D., MPH
Dates: August 2024 – May 2029
Funding: National Institute of Nursing Research (R01NR021692)

Public Health Relevance Statement:  We propose an effectiveness-implementation type I hybrid study to test an intervention, Using PrEP, Doing it for Ourselves (UPDOs) Protective Styles, and its effectiveness to improve PrEP uptake among Black cisgender women using a cluster-randomized control trial and examining implementation determinants of UPDOs as a real-world intervention that can be scaled across the Southern US. Project activities will be delivered by an interdisciplinary team – advised by an external advisory panel and established community advisory council, and implemented across six counties in North Carolina, a southern region where HIV incidence is high— Cumberland, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, and Wake counties. At the conclusion of the funded project, we will have rigorously evaluated the intervention ready for scale-up across the US south that has potential to significantly advance EHE goals, specifically for Black cisgender women, an invisible population in HIV prevention.

Title: Leveraging Local Health System Electronic Health Record Data to Enhance PrEP Access in Southeastern Louisiana: A Community-Informed Approach
Multiple Principal Investigator: Nwora Lance Okeke, MD, MPH and and Meredith Clement, MD
Dates: June 2022 – May 2027
Funding: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI169641)

Public Health Relevance Statement:  HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake in Louisiana is among the lowest in the country, and few solutions have been developed to address the unique barriers to optimal PrEP uptake in the state. This project focuses on the use of machine learning algorithms embedded within the electronic health record (EHR) of large health systems in Southeastern Louisiana to identify persons at increased risk for HIV infection. The project will also evaluate approaches to best utilize the output from these algorithms to inform effective health-system based HIV risk status notification strategies on a population level, with input from community stakeholders.

Title: Designing an Ethnodrama Intervention Addressing PrEP Stigma Toward Young Women
Principal Investigator: Amy Corneli, Ph.D., MPH
Dates: July 2023 – March 2026
Funding: Fogarty International Center (R01TW01267)

Public Health Relevance Statement:  Young cisgender women (YCW) in Kenya are affected by HIV at a disproportionate rate. We will develop, pre-test, and pilot test an ethnodrama intervention designed to transform community member beliefs about and foster support of YCW using PrEP, thereby reducing enacted, anticipated, and internalized stigma. We aim to create a supportive environment where young women’s PrEP use is normalized, rather than stigmatized.

Title: Sexual and Gender Minority Mental Health in Low and Middle Income Countries (SMILE)
Multiple Principal Investigators: Sara Legrand, Ph.D. and Kathryn Whetten, Ph.D.
Dates: May 2020 – February 2026
Funding: National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH119101)

Public Health Relevance Statement:  Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Mental Health In Low and Middle Income Countries (SMILE) SMILE will characterize the mental health symptomatology and needs of seven different SGM groups in three culturally and contextually distinct LMICs. Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) as well as mass media recruitment will be used to enroll a longitudinal cohort; the cultural, contextual, interpersonal, and individual determinants of mental health outcomes over 24 months will be identified. Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) will be used to elicit SGM preferences for different characteristics of evidence-based mental health treatments (EBTs) that can be feasibly provided and sustained for this very vulnerable population.

Title: Telehealth to Reduce Suicidality and Improve HIV Care Engagement in Tanzania
Principal Investigator: Brandon Knettel, Ph.D.
Dates: April 2021 – March 2025
Funding: National Institute of Mental Health (K08MH124459)

Public Health Relevance Statement:  Suicidal ideation is strikingly common among people living with HIV worldwide, leading to higher burden of disease for both mental illness and HIV, poor HIV care engagement, increased transmission risk, and loss of life. In this K08 Career Development Award, Dr. Knettel proposes to develop and pilot test a 3-session, nurse-delivered telehealth counseling intervention to reduce suicidality and improve HIV care engagement among people living with HIV in Tanzania. By completing the proposed research and training plans, Dr. Knettel seeks to create a scalable intervention model to address a critical public health challenge.

Title: Start the conversation: A multi-level PrEP initiative for Black women in NOLA
Multiple Principal Investigators: Amy Corneli, Ph.D., MPH and Meredith Clement, MD
Dates: January 2022 – December 2024
Funding: National Institute of Mental Health (R34MH129211)

Public Health Relevance Statement:  For Black cisgender women living in New Orleans, Louisiana, the rate of new HIV diagnosis is almost 7 times higher than that of White women; uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been limited. In our previous research, we found that Black cisgender women do not know of other Black cisgender women taking PrEP, and Black women are not offered PrEP during routine medical care. Therefore, we will develop and pilot implementation strategies at the patient- and provider-levels that are designed to increase PrEP uptake and retention in PrEP care among Black cisgender women.

CFAR Administrative Supplments, Pilot Grants and Microgrants

Title: Examining the relationships between sexual minority stress, mental health, and PrEP engagement among Indigenous gay and bisexual men in Guatemala: Preparing for a pilot intervention
Principal Investigator: Dirk Davis, Ph.D., MPH
Funding: Duke CFAR Microgrant

Title: EHE: Preparing for implementation of strategies to promote uptake of long-acting injectable PrEP among Black same gender loving men in HBCU communities
Principal Investigator: Amy Corneli, Ph.D., MPH
Funding: CFAR Administrative Supplement

Title: Expanding the reach of an HIV rapid response re-engagement team (H3RT): assessing the readiness of key stakeholders and identifying predictors of re-engagement.
Principal Investigator: Charles Burns, MD
Funding: Duke CFAR Pilot Funding

Title: Contextualizing factors associated with non-adherence to cardiovascular disease prevention strategies for people living with HIV who have achieved viral suppression
Principal Investigator: Charles Muiruri, Ph.D.
Funding: Duke CFAR Microgrant

Title: PrEP-MECK: Increasing PrEP uptake among Same Gender Loving Men in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Principal Investigator: Amy Corneli, Ph.D., MPH
Funding: CFAR Administrative Supplement

Title: Equity-focused implementation mapping to improve PrEP uptake and maintenance among Latines
Principal Investigator: Sarah Wilson, Ph.D.
Funding: CFAR Administrative Supplement

Title: Community-Driven Implementation of Stigma Interventions in African American Faith Communities
Principal Investigator: Sarah Wilson, Ph.D.
Funding: CFAR Administrative Supplement

Title: HIV care engagement: Identifying predictors of engagement and building a collaboration with the Durham County Health Department
Principal Investigator: Naseem Alavian, MD, MPH
Funding: Duke CFAR Pilot Award

Title: A community-informed strategy for understanding and addressing the influence of HI-related and intersectional stigmas on access to and uptake (use) of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among cisgender African American women
Principal Investigator: Suur Ayangeakaa, Ph.D.
Funding: Duke CFAR Pilot Award

Title: Clinic-based incentives to promote patient uptake of long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy for the treatment of HIV
Principal Investigator: Emily Niehaus, MD, MPH
Funding: Duke CFAR Pilot Award

Title: Leveraging Southern Community-Based Pharmacies for PrEP Referrals
Principal Investigator: Charles Burns, MD
Funding: CFAR Administrative Supplement

Title: Evidence2Practice (E2P): Leveraging Implementation Science to Promote Careers in HIV Research among Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Students, Phase III
Principal Investigator: Lance N. Okeke, MD, MPH
Funding: CFAR Administrative Supplement

Monday, June 16, 2025

This month, we are thrilled to feature Dr. Jacqueline (Jackie) Hodges. Dr. Hodges is an Infectious Disease Specialist and Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine. Her research focuses on people who inject drugs (PWID) and integrating substance use treatments with HIV prevention and care through innovative mobile and digital health interventions. In this interview, Dr. Hodges shares her journey into infectious disease and public health research, and we discuss her recent CFAR Pilot Award and Gilead Sciences Grant.

Read the full conversation with Dr. Jackie Hodges here.

Thursday, November 7, 2024

The launch of the Inter-CFAR Health Equity Working Group, our new initiative aimed at connecting HIV researchers dedicated to reducing inequities across the HIV care continuum, was held on November 7^th, 2024. The meeting brought together investigators from 12 CFARs and we explored innovative ways to integrate health equity frameworks into HIV research. Click the image below to view the graphic summary of the meeting.

SBS Core Associate Director, Dr. Sadie Wilson, kicked off the meeting with an insightful overview of models, theories, and frameworks. Invited speakers then showcased their work on three key health equity frameworks: Dr. Emilee Egger discussed the Health Equity Implementation Framework, Dr. Yanica Faustin presented the R4P framework, and Dr. Kiara Lee explained her work using ETR’s Health Equity Framework. The meeting then transitioned to breakout groups for further discussions between speakers and attendees.

Thursday, October 10, 2024

This fall, we are excited to feature Dr. Naseem Alavian, an Infectious Disease Fellow and health services researcher at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Dr. Alavian leverages data science in her research to develop and implement innovative strategies for improving disease management in patients living with HIV in the US South. In this interview, we delve into Dr. Alavian’s journey through medical school, her connection with health care services research, and how she integrates her clinical expertise with socio-behavioral research to enhance HIV care.

You can read the full article here.

Friday, July 12, 2024

This month, we are excited to highlight Global Health Instructor and faculty member in the Center for Health Policy and Inequities Research, the Duke Global Health Institute, and the Duke Sexual and Gender Minority Wellness Program, Dr. Dirk A. Davis.

Dr. Davis’s work focuses on improving the health of sexual and gender minority communities through community-engaged behavioral interventions. In this interview, we discuss his journey into global health as a Peace Corps Volunteer, his graduate research improving sustainable HIV care and PrEP engagement among gay and bisexual men in Guatemala, and his current work at Duke including his recently awarded NIMH K01 grant.

You can read the full article here.

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