Reminder: IRTPA T32 application deadline April 21

The Duke NIH Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in AIDS (IRTPA) T32 has two slots available for appointments. The application deadline was extended to Friday, April 21, 2023. Interested applicants should have submitted a Letter of Intent. Visit the CFAR website for more details. Photo of LaTonya Williams, Ph.D., IRTPA Postdoctoral Trainee 2013-2016

News from the CFAR

Dr. Sadie Wilson highlighted in article: Partnering with the Community to Reverse the HIV Trend in Latinx Individuals

Through a new National Institutes of Health grant, Sarah “Sadie” Wilson, PhD, hopes to reduce inequities that place Latinx individuals at higher risk of HIV. She’s partnering with her friend and colleague, Joaquin Carcaño, director of southern health policy at Latinos in the South, to launch a community-based, equity-focused initiative in the Charlotte, North Carolina area.

Dr. Wilson is an SBS Core Associate Director and helped to start up the D3C, the Duke CFAR's Collaborative Community Council. Her Ending the HIV Epidemic grant, which relies heavily on voices from the community, reflects an innovative, grassroots-level solution with the long-term goal of changing harmful systems and getting at the heart of key HIV prevention challenges in the Latino community. 

Latino gay and bisexual men comprised nearly a quarter of the estimated 34,800 new HIV infections in the U.S. in 2019. Additionally, one third of Latina transgender women surveyed in a recent national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study are living with HIV, and new HIV infections are more common among Latina women than non-Hispanic White women. Social and structural issues such as racism, xenophobia, HIV stigma, homophobia, transphobia, poverty, immigration policy, language barriers, and limited access to high-quality health care have influenced health outcomes and continue to drive inequities.

Effective preventive HIV treatment—pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an antiretroviral medication—is widely available to people without HIV who may be exposed to HIV through sex or injection drug use. The once-daily pill decreases the risk of contracting HIV from injecting drugs by 74 percent and the chance of contracting HIV through sex by 99 percent. However, many people at risk for HIV are unaware of its life-changing benefits; this problem is particularly prevalent in the Latino community. 

In the first year of the project, Wilson and Carcaño formed a workgroup of community members—including people taking PrEP, those who work in clinics, those living with HIV, experts from Latinos in the South (an immigration advocacy group), and other community organizers and advocates. 

The workgroup will lead the design of a model implementation plan in North Carolina. The Duke team—including researchers from the School of Medicine Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Population Health Sciences and the School of Nursing—will study the acceptability and feasibility of this community-based and equity-focused approach. If the model proves effective, Wilson and Carcaño hope it can be replicated across the U.S. South.

Read the full article.

Join the Johns Hopkins CFAR International Adolescent and Young Adult SWG

The Johns Hopkins CFAR Adolescent and Young Adult Scientific Working Group (SWG) has an “International Arm” which convenes on the second Thursday of the month from 10:30 – 11:30 Eastern Time. As this is a narrowly focused area of research, they would love having folks outside of Hopkins participate. If anyone is interested in attending, please send an e-mail to Kate Rucinski at rucinski@jhu.edu to be added to our listserv.

The aims of the group are below:

CFAR Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) International Working Group Objectives

1. To bring together internationally focused AYA HIV researchers to identify gaps in the field and to develop innovative and collaborative research projects to address these gaps through:

• AYA-focused grant proposals
• Manuscripts

2. To foster relationships and mentorship between senior AYA HIV research leaders in the field and junior/early career faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students, and research staff

• Work in progress presentations by junior/early career faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students, and research staff

3. To facilitate cross-institutional networking opportunities for meaningful engagement related to AYA HIV internationally focused research

• Presentations by external speakers at monthly group meetings

Volunteer for a Science Outreach Event

Saturday, April 15th, 2023 | 1-3pm ET | Lakewood Elementary School, 2520 Vesson Ave

The SEEDS Outreach focus group is partnering with Jack and Jill of Durham to provide kids (Pre-K to high-school) with hands-on activities to inspire interest in science as a potential career path. There will also be a canned food drive to benefit the Lakewood Food Pantry. 

Volunteers are needed to help with the activity stations (all supplies and directions provided). We will also have stations to talk to kids about careers in quantitative sciences, health sciences, and laboratory sciences. 

Event details: 

Saturday, April 15th, 1 pm-3 pm

Lakewood Elementary School, 2520 Vesson Ave, Durham, NC 27707

Please email kelly.seaton@duke.edu if you are interested in participating or for additional details.

Social & Behavioral Sciences Core Meet & Greet

Monday, April 17th, 2023 | 4-5:30pm ET | School of Nursing Pearson Building, 307 Trent Drive, Room 1140

Please see the flyer above about the upcoming Center for AIDS Research, Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Core Meet and Greet on April 17th. 

This is a great time for those interested in initiating HIV–related research as well as established HIV researchers to meet and hear about others’ research and the SBS core services. 

If you do not currently receive SBS Core emails and would like to be added to their listserv, please email cfar-sbs-core-request@duke.edu

HANC Webinar: The NIH Grant Lifecycle Process: From Submission to Notice of Award (Part 1)

Wednesday, April 26th, 2023 | 2-3pm ET | Webinar

New Investigators Working Group Webinar Series: NIH Grant Lifecycle Process (Part 1)

Webinar Agenda

Introduction to NIH

• Institutes that support HIV research
• Who to contact at the NIH
• Introduction to the NIH grants process 

Before Applying: Navigating NIH Funding Opportunities

•  Understanding different Institutes’ missions and priorities
• Finding funding opportunities
• Grant mechanisms by career stage

Applying for a NIH Grant

• Eligibility for PIs and Institutions
• US vs International
• International funding opportunities

Register for the webinar.

United States Conference on HIV/AIDS - Abstracts due April 21st

September 6-9, 2023 | Washington, D.C.

The 2023 United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) will take place September 6 – 9 at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC. This year’s theme is “A Love Letter to Black Women”. Like our focus on Puerto Rico and Latinx populations last year, we will lean into this theme while we celebrate and honor Black women (cis and trans). We will highlight Black women across our movements, from activists to women living with HIV, national advocates, community voices, federal leaders, health department staff, healthcare workers, researchers and women-focused organizations. The Opening Plenary will tell their stories and acknowledge their contributions. Their experiences will be highlighted in workshops, institutes, posters, and special events. We will also have a section of the exhibit hall for small businesses owned and operated by Black women. 

Learn more about the conference.

Association of Nurses in AIDS Care Conference - Abstracts due April 17th

October 25-28, 2023 | New Orleans

The Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) is heading to The Big Easy for the 2023 Annual ANAC conference. The conference brings together nearly 500 nurses, nurse educators and other healthcare providers to network and learn more about important topics like pharmaceutical breakthroughs, racial disparities, The Plan to End HIV and much more.

ANAC2023 will be held in New Orleans Oct. 26-28 with pre-conference activities on Oct. 25.

Abstracts

We are now accepting abstracts for oral concurrent sessions, posters and student posters. Authors are invited to submit abstracts that relate to the conference objectives. View the submission instructions and submit an abstract. Abstracts will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. ET on April 17.

Conference Objectives

Clinical: Identify effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis, treatment &/or supportive care of people with or at risk for HIV &/or co-occurring conditions across the lifespan.

Policy: Build capacity of nurses and other healthcare professionals to effectively engage in health policy and advocacy to improve health and support people living with or affected by HIV.

Leadership: Describe nurse leadership opportunities and the impact on healthcare and society.

Global: Illustrate the impact of nurses and other healthcare professionals in addressing HIV &/or co-occurring conditions in global settings.

Research: Discuss research innovations in HIV biomedical, psychosocial, behavioral and care and delivery research.

Trends & Emergent conditions: Provide updated analysis of emerging health and related issues that impact people living with or at risk for HIV and their care team

Learn more about the conference and submit an abstract.

JANAC Calls for Papers on Special Issues

Journal of Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC) is a peer-reviewed, interprofessional journal that is international in scope. We are seeking feature articles including original research, systematic/scoping reviews, education and practice briefs, program briefs, and quality improvement projects related to two special issues. JANAC is included in Index Medicus, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Science Citation Index Expanded. JANAC is also included in the following abstracting services: Scopus, MEDLINE/PubMed, EBSCO, Expanded Science Citation Index, IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences), International Nursing Index, and PsychINFO.

Domestic and Global Perspective on HIV and Cisgender Women

The journal is open to all submissions related to the special issue topic related to the following topics related to HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment focused on Cisgender Women with both a Domestic and Global Perspectives; JANAC is especially interested in submissions related to the following topics focusing on cisgender women at risk for or living with HIV:

• Aging with HIV: bone loss, frailty, intersectional stigma, menopause, social determinants of health, social networks
• Community and research engagement with women at risk for or living with HIV
• Culture and contextual considerations related to HIV prevention, care, and treatment 
• Disclosure and support
• Harm reduction
• HIV criminalization laws: policy and human rights perspectives
• HIV Stigma, intersectional stigma, and structural stigma
• Inclusive and equitable health communication messaging in research and health care
• Innovations in the HIV care continuum -- Women Friendly Care Systems, Family Models of Care
• Intersections of chronic conditions and multimorbidity
• Medical distrust and HIV prevention, care, and treatment
• Reproductive justice: access to care, autonomy of choice, pregnancy planning
• Risk perception and HIV prevention continuum (testing, PrEP access/uptake)
• Systemic racism and the HIV status neutral continuum 
• Social determinants of health and health equity
• Substance use, mental health and HIV
• Adverse childhood experiences, intergenerational trauma, intimate partner violence, trauma, toxic stress, victimization and HIV

Manuscript submission due date: October 1, 2023

Community Engaged Approaches to Addressing HIV in the U.S. South and in Rural or Remote Communities Globally

The journal is open to all submissions related to the special issue topic related to the following topics related to HIV prevention, care and treatment in the United States South and Rural and Remote Communities Globally; JANAC is especially interested in submissions related to the following topics:

• Access to primary and specialty care related to HIV, HCV, substance use disorder, and mental health – geographical considerations
• Aging with HIV in rural and remote communities globally
• Culture and contextual considerations related to HIV prevention, care, and treatment
• Differentiated and simplified PrEP to improve PrEP access and retention in rural and remote communities globally (e.g., on-demand, HIV self-testing)
• HIV stigma, intersectional stigma, structural stigma, and homophobia: urban-rural differences, interventions to address
• Knowledge, risk perception and HIV prevention continuum (testing, PrEP access/uptake)
• Medical distrust and HIV prevention, care, and treatment in the U.S. South
• Normalizing or standardizing HIV care – HIV and primary care integration to increase access and improve health outcomes in the U.S. South and rural or remote communities globally
• Policy issues (Medicaid expansion, scope of nursing/nurse practitioner practice, syringe service programs) and HIV prevention, care, and treatment
• Restricted access to comprehensive reproductive care and relationship to HIV prevention, care, and treatment in the U.S.
• Systemic racism and the HIV status neutral continuum in the U. S.
• Social determinants of health and health equity in HIV prevention – the impact of geography and rurality related to HIV prevention, care, and treatment outcomes
• Syndemic perspectives on HIV prevention, care, and treatment
• Telehealth or other innovative HIV and PrEP service delivery outside of traditional care (e.g., self-collection kits, pharmacist-led clinics) to improve care access and adherence in the U.S. South 

Manuscript submission due date: August 1, 2023

Learn more about JANAC.

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