Clinical Research Directory

Implementation Trial to Evaluate a Population Health Combination Intervention to Meet HIV Testing, Linkage, and Viral Suppression Goals in Alabama

The purpose of this study is to adapt and evaluate a combination intervention that includes: (1) a data-driven approach to directed community-based HIV testing to areas with high need, (2) Project Connect to expedite linkage to care at time of diagnosis, (3) and a Rapid ART (antiretroviral therapy)Start program, all in Mobile County Health Department (MCHD) jurisdictions in Alabama.

Evaluation of a Multi-Component Intervention to Support HIV Testing and Linkage to Services Among MSM in Peru

This study is testing a new program designed to improve access to HIV testing and help connect people with available treatment or prevention services, based on their test result. The version of the program being tested in this study was designed for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Lima, Peru. The program has two main parts: 1) offering HIV testing at venues where people go for sex (called "sex-on-premises venues" or SOPVs), and 2) a text messaging app that shares useful information about HIV treatment/prevention; users can also message back to get support from a healthcare worker. Before doing this study, the researchers worked with community members and healthcare providers in the area to make sure that the HIV testing approach and mobile app were designed in a way that would be engaging and meet their needs. Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night during recruitment, the researchers will go to SOPVs popular among the MSM community in Lima and invite people to take an HIV test. On each recruitment date, they will offer one of the following HIV testing options: 1. A rapid HIV test done on-site (participants will get their result right away) 2. An HIV self-testing kit to take home 3. A coupon for a free HIV test at a participating health center 4. Their choice of any one of the previous three options Only one of these options will be offered at a time, depending on the date. The specific HIV testing option offered on each date will be randomly assigned. All participants will receive the mobile app, which will send weekly messages with links to different types of online content (infographics, maps, videos) over the next 3 months. The specific sequence of messages and content will be different depending on the type of HIV test the person received and their HIV test result, once it is known. The study will measure two main outcomes related to the acceptability and feasibility of the program: * The number and percentage of people who accept the program when offered * The number and percentage of participants who continue to engage with the mobile app after 3 months The study will also measure: * overall satisfaction with the app (based on a questionnaire sent at 3 months) * the number and percentage of participants who completed any form of HIV testing after 3 months * the number and percentage of participants who started HIV treatment (out of those with a positive HIV test) * the number and percentage of participants who started HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or "PrEP" (out of those with a negative HIV test) All follow-up will be done remotely. Participants will have the app for 3 months. After 3 months, they will get a follow-up questionnaire asking about their experiences with the program. The researchers will keep tracking results related to the HIV treatment/prevention services that people receive for up to 6 months.

HIV/STI/HCV Testing and Overdose Prevention Among Survivors of Sex Trafficking

This project will assess whether a digital survivor crowdsourced intervention can increase HIV/STI/HCV testing and overdose prevention kit utilization among survivors of sex trafficking living in New York City. Survivors of sex trafficking have among the highest rates of HIV/STIs/HCV and substance use disorder (SUD), yet they face substantial barriers to care, including lack of information about care and financial and logistical constraints. In addition, there is a lack of public health messaging tailored specifically for survivors of sex trafficking to meet their needs. Citizen science approaches, such as crowdsourcing (i.e., engaging groups of individuals to address public health challenges and share solutions), are scalable, cost-effective tools that can increase HIV/SUD prevention and treatment utilization. Crowdsourcing can be used to engage survivors in developing tailored messaging to promote HIV/STI/HCV testing, overdose prevention, and treatment utilization. Complementing crowdsourcing, specimen self-collection with remote HIV/STI/HCV testing and online delivery of overdose prevention kits to survivors may also increase use of needed healthcare services. Study aims are: 1) develop crowdsourced digital messages to promote HIV/STI/HCV testing uptake and utilization of overdose prevention services for substance use among sex trafficking survivors; 2) in a randomized controlled trial, to compare the survivor-crowdsourced HIV and substance use intervention to existing public health messaging among sex trafficking survivors (n=368) in New York City; and 3) assess the contribution of multi-level factors on reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance (RE-AIM) outcomes. This work will result in a digital crowdsourced intervention to increase HIV/STI/HCV testing uptake, overdose prevention kit utilization, and linkage to care among survivors of sex trafficking. This project will also result in a crowdsourcing and messaging toolkit that can be broadly distributed to public health and other agencies across the country for their use in designing messaging campaigns for survivors. Findings from this project will lay the groundwork for citizen science-developed HIV and SUD interventions for sex trafficking survivors across the US.

Rapid HIV, Hep C, and Syphilis Screening in a Rural Street Medicine Clinic

West Virginia faces rising rates of HIV, hepatitis, and syphilis, particularly among individuals experiencing homelessness, substance use, and mental health challenges. Traditional blood-draw testing for these infections is often hindered by mistrust, logistical barriers, and delays in results. This study, conducted by the West Virginia University (WVU) Street Medicine program, evaluates a rapid, point-of-care fingerstick test for HIV, Hepatitis C, and syphilis that provides results within 10-20 minutes during mobile clinic visits. Participants may choose rapid testing, traditional blood draw (which also includes Hepatitis B screening), or decline testing. All participants will be invited to complete a brief survey about the experiences with screening methods. The goal is to assess whether rapid testing improves screening uptake, linkage to care, and patient satisfaction, ultimately reducing barriers and disease burden in high-risk populations.

P3 Trial: Estimating the Impact of a Multilevel, Multicomponent Intervention to Increase Uptake of HIV Testing and Biomedical HIV Prevention Among African-American/Black Gay, Bisexual, and Same-gender Loving Men

The major goal of this study is to evaluate a multi-component, multilevel HIV prevention intervention that targets theoretically-informed and empirically-identified barriers to and facilitators of both HIV testing and PEP/PrEP uptake by combining existing evidence-based and novel evidence-informed components and integrating them into a community-based organization's (CBO) standard of care (SOC) PEP/PrEP navigation program. The evaluation will apply use a 2x2 factorial design to randomize and follow for 18 months 480 PrEP-eligible Black MSM (aged 18-65) living in the NYC area to one of four combinations of interventions. The impact of the social/media campaign, delivered to both geographic (print media) and Black MSM communities (social media) and launched midway through recruitment, will be assessed through assessment of timing and length of exposure as covariates in analysis.