Friday, October 13, 2023
This month, we are excited to highlight Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences at Duke University, Dr. Suur Ayangeakaa, PhD.
Dr. Suur Ayangeakaa is at the forefront of efforts to combat HIV disparities among ethnic minorities, particularly African American communities. Her journey from an undergraduate internship in Zambia to her current role at Duke is driven by a deep commitment to understanding and addressing the challenges surrounding HIV prevention. In this interview, we explore her professional trajectory, her current research, her goals at Duke, and the support she has received from the CFAR SBS Core in advancing her HIV-related research.
You can read the full article here.
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
This month, we are excited to highlight Associate Professor in the Duke School of Nursing and Director and Principal Investigator of the HEEAT Research Lab, Dr. Schenita Randolph, PhD, MPH, FAAN
The HEEAT Research Lab addresses health disparities through engagement, equity, advocacy, and trust using a nurse led model of care and trusted spaces that already exist in Black communities. A nurse for over 25 years, Randolph came to Duke seven years ago as an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing with a PhD in public health. Within the first couple of years, she became an Associate Director in the Community Engagement Core of the Duke CTSI.
You can read the full article here.
Monday, January 9, 2023
Click the link below to view the Policy Communication Rocket Talk held as part of the SBS Core’s Scientific Communication Series.
North Carolina Senator Graig Meyer promoted using stories when communicating with policymakers, and suggested capturing emotions and beliefs first and then complementing with research evidence.
Jenni Owen, Director of the North Carolina Office of Strategic Partnerships, described how researchers can effectively communicate with policymakers, and included common examples of ineffective research communication and resources such as online tools and partnership opportunities.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Monday, December 12, 2022
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s December 2022 Rocket Talk on Scientific Communication: Interdisciplinary Communication. Dr. Christine Daniels, with Asklepios Biopharmaceutical, Inc., focused on reimagining science communication through a medical anthropological framework and audience engagement. Dr. Ariana Eily of Elon University, described four main steps for how to communicate and collaborate with different audiences, including useful storytelling template examples for communicating science.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s November 2022 Rocket Talk on Scientific Communication: Media Communication. Mr. Michael Penn, with Duke Global Health Institute, focused on telling scientific stories to nonscientific audiences, six tips for presenting research to the public, and benefits of direct engagement. Mr. Karl Bates, with the Duke University Research Communications, described four tips for science communication and the deficit model, including how to talk to the media and asking for help from university communicators.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Monday, September 12, 2022
This month, we are excited to highlight infectious disease specialist and Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine, Dr. Charles Burns, MD.
Originally from the Chicago area, Dr. Burns first came to Duke in 2018 as an infectious disease fellow. His interest in this specialty began during a year off between college and medical school, when he worked on vaccine and HIV research. Describing what interests him about HIV research, he says “It’s not only a medical disease. It’s also a social disease, and there’s a lot of factors that are at play.”
You can read the full article here.
Thursday, June 9, 2022
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s May 2022 Rocket Talk. Dr. Susan Laird from CDC presented Health Equity Guiding Principles – Getting Started and Making it Stick, in which she shared the reasons behind the formation of CDC's Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication and the importance of treating health equity as a public health crisis. Her presentation was followed by a conversation with two community members, Mr. TerL Gleason and Ms. Alicia Diggs, both of whom are living with HIV and working within their community to change the way people talk about HIV and those who are living with it.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Friday, April 29, 2022
This month, we are excited to highlight Assistant Professor in Population Health Science and Global Health, Dr. Charles Muiruri
Dr. Charles Muiruri is a dually appointed Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences and Global Health, as well as a visiting lecturer at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania. Dr. Muiruri has experience in startups, banking and retail services both in Kenya and the United States. He credits his diverse career background – which includes 15 years of project management as a global research coordinator – for making him a well-rounded researcher.
You can read the full article here.
Monday, February 14, 2022
This month, we are excited to highlight Assistant Professor of Nursing and Global Health, Marta Mulawa, PhD, MHS.
Dr. Mulawa first came to Duke in 2016 as a postdoctoral scholar with the Duke Global Health Institute. Today, she is an Assistant Professor of Nursing and Global Health in the Duke University School of Nursing and at the Duke Global Health Institute. As part of her recent K01 award, Dr. Mulawa has established a collaborative relationship with other researchers and colleagues at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (UCT). Her research focuses on improving the understanding of the impact of social networks on HIV-related behaviors, particularly those related to with treatment and prevention outcomes.
We recently spoke with Dr. Mulawa about her research trajectory, her latest K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from the NIMH, and how she has benefited from the resources and support provided by the CFAR – you can read the full conversation here.
Thursday, January 27, 2022
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s January 2022 Rocket Talk on NIH Stigma and Discrimination Research Toolkit and Priorities: A View from NIMH and NIDA. Drs. Brenda Curtis (NIDA Intramural Research Program) and Gregory Greenwood (NIMH Division of AIDS Research) presented NIH’s recently developed toolkit for stigma and discrimination research, as well as stigma research findings and priorities for NIDA and NIMH.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Access the Stigma and Discrimination Research Toolkit here.
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s November 2021 Rocket Talk on Integrating a Racial Justice Lens into HIV Prevention, Care, and Treatment Research. Christin Daniels and Jessie Byrd, members of the DUSON Center for Nursing Research’s Racial Justice Task Force, presented their checklist (DUSON-INFUSE) designed to help researchers embed an equity lens throughout the research lifecycle.
Throughout the discussion, presenters and attendees shared several resources they use in their current work. Links to those are below.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Resources from the November Rocket Talk –
- CDC Preferred Terms for Select Population Groups & Communities
- DOCR Engagement, Recruitment, and Retention Certificate Program
- Duke CTSI Recruitment Innovation Center
- We All Count – Foundations of Data Equity Workshop
- ETR Health Equity Framework
- NIA Health Disparities Research Framework
- Duke Compact for Open Access Publishing Equity (COPE) Fund
Thursday, October 28, 2021
Dr. Dorothy Dow first came to Duke as a Pediatric Infectious Disease fellow and graduate student in the Master of Science in Global Health program. As a fellow, she traveled to Moshi, Tanzania and worked on a project researching prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). Despite the success of that work, Dr. Dow noticed a discrepancy between the success they had seen in graduating HIV uninfected infants from the project and seeing adolescents with HIV in her clinical practice.
Click here to read more of this interview with Dr. Dorothy Dow.
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Click the link below to view the SBS Core's September 2021 Rocket Talk on an Introduction to INTERACT, QualCore, and the Quantitative Core. Drs. Leah Zullig, Amy Corneli, and Cliburn Chan provided an overview of these cores and how CFAR SBS investigators can work with them on their research studies.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s March 2021 Rocket Talk on Tips for Effective Data Visualization. Dr. Eric Monson, with the Duke University Libraries Center for Data and Visualization Sciences, described basic guidelines for effective data visualization and common pitfalls to avoid when presenting quantitative data.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s December Rocket Talk on mHealth. Drs. John Mitchell and Roger Vilardaga described their mHealth work, including development, implementation, logistical challenges, and experiences of using mHealth in social and behavioral sciences research.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s October Rocket Talk: Biomarkers in Social and Behavioral Sciences. This talk focused on biomarker collection in social and behavioral sciences research. Janet Huebner presented the Duke Biomarkers Shared Resource—which assists investigators with the design and implementation of molecular and protein assays to evaluate biochemical and inflammatory marker—paying special attention to markers most pertinent to HIV investigators; Rosa Gonzales-Guarda presented the SER Hispano Project and discussed the processes her team has developed for obtaining biomarker specimens in the community; and SBS Core Associate Directors Christina Meade and Sarah Wilson discussed collecting specimens in the community setting with special focuses on blood collection and adaptations being made in light of COVID-19.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Thursday, October 15, 2020
CFAR SBS Core Member Highlight: Joy Noel Baumgartner, PhD, MSSW
Dr. Joy Noel Baumgartner has 20 years of experience working in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) to strengthen the delivery of HIV, reproductive health, maternal and child health (MCH), and mental health services. As Associate Professor of Global Health and the Director of the Duke Global Health Institute’s Evidence Lab, she uses this experience to lead their mission to conduct research in LMICs with local partners to inform evidence-based programs and interventions. Her current research is the perfect example of this work in action.
Click here to read more!
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Click the link below to view the SBS Core’s first Rocket Talk (formerly known as Chalk Talks) on Implementation Science by Dr. Sarah Wilson. This talk focused on fundamentals of implementation science in HIV-related research. Implementation science is a relatively new field, and involves empirical investigation of methods for increasing the use and quality of healthcare innovations and evidence-based practice in healthcare settings. Dr. Wilson reviewed core concepts related to implementation frameworks, methodological considerations, and common misconceptions. Examples involved specific applications of implementation science to HIV treatment and prevention, including grant-writing and funding resources for implementation science research.
Watch the Rocket Talk on YouTube!
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
What is an SBS Core Think Tank Session?
Duke CFAR Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Core Confidentiality and Integrity Statement
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
SBS Core Member Highlight: Lauren Pacek, PhD
Thursday, September 5, 2019
NIH Bolsters Funding for HIV Implementation Research in High-Burden U.S. Areas
PrEP-MECK: Identifying community-driven approaches for increasing PrEP uptake, adherence, and persistence among Black men who have sex with men in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Duke CFAR investigators have assembled a strong multi-disciplinary team who will identify implementation science projects that address the HIV epidemic among Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) in Mecklenburg County, NC, by 1) creating a local coalition of community groups, BMSM, PrEP providers, and researchers committed to engaging BMSM in PrEP care; 2) engaging BMSM in formative research to describe multi-level factors that influence PrEP uptake, adherence, and persistence among BMSM, and to suggest methods for enhancing engagement among BMSM in PrEP care; and 3) using the formative research findings and the coalition’s expertise to identify community-driven implementation science projects focused on PrEP uptake, adherence, and persistence among BMSM. The team includes three CFAR Investigators: Amy Corneli, PI; Sara LeGrand, co-I; and Susan Reif, co-I. The community partners are Chelsea Gulden with RAIN, a non-profit organization providing PrEP-related services, and Wesley Thompson, a PrEP provider with the Amity Medical Group. https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/cfar-arc-ending-hiv-epidemic-supplement-awards
Getting to [NO]ne in New Orleans: Enhancing PrEP Uptake among Black Women to End the Epidemic. Duke CFAR is partnering with investigators at Louisiana State University (LSU) as well as community partners and representatives of local populations in New Orleans to 1) identify locally-conceived strategies for engaging Black women in New Orleans in PrEP services, informed by qualitative research, and 2) plan for implementation of the strategies. Duke CFAR will also help to build local research capacity and support the growth of investigators at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Investigators include Amy Corneli, Duke CFAR, PI, and Meredith Clement, former Duke CFAR member, co-I, and now a PrEP provider at the Louisiana State University Medical Center. The community partners are Rebecca Lillis, with the LSU-Crescent Care Sexual Health Center, and Veronica Magee, with Brotherhood, Inc., a community-based organization that focuses on HIV prevention among Black men and women in New Orleans. https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/cfar-arc-ending-hiv-epidemic-supplement-awards
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Interviews from CFAR Small Grant in South Africa lend insight into disclosure challenges for pregnant women with HIV
Friday, April 13, 2018
O’Neill Institute report examines federal investment in HIV prevention
Friday, March 2, 2018
SBS Core hosts Chalk Talk and Networking Opportunity: Biomarkers for Behavioral and Clinical Outcomes
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Intent to recruit and hire for the Associate Director for the AIDS Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse
Friday, December 8, 2017
UNC and Duke SBS Cores host joint Networking Event – Meet your Matches
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Dr. Sarah Wilson attends Mentoring Day at CFAR Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Network meeting
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
DGHI/KCMC Symposium Addresses Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Duke CFAR directors recall early days of HIV research at Duke for World AIDS Day event
Monday, October 31, 2016
SBS Core welcomes two new clinical investigators
Friday, October 21, 2016
Postdoctoral scholar Marta Mulawa attends CFAR Social and Behavioral Science Research Network Mentoring Day