Faculty Scholars Award: Stochastic Modeling of IDU Network Factors for HIV Stabilization Dynamics

这一文化人类学学者奖将支持人类学家柯克·东布洛夫斯基博士在目前与社会网络分析相关的计算机建模高级技术方面的培训。培训的具体应用是针对注射吸毒者社区中艾滋病毒感染的一个长期存在的问题。尽管社区成员的变化、新感染病例的出现以及内部和人际关系的重新调整，IDU社区的艾滋病毒感染率经常稳定在远低于网络饱和水平的水平。人们强烈怀疑，社交网络功能在稳定过程中发挥着重要作用，但目前这种作用的性质很大程度上尚不清楚。在约翰杰刑事司法学院网络研究实验室的比拉尔·汗博士的指导下，东布朗斯基博士将开发一个社交网络渗透模型，试图更好地理解这些低于预期的艾滋病毒感染率。他将使用随机图建模来构建具有拓扑相似性的网络，这些网络与上世纪90年代初在纽约布鲁克林进行的一项有充分记录的研究中发现的网络相似。然后，将在这些网络上重复各种初始感染情景，以发现有助于稳定网络感染率的结构特征(以及那些不有助于稳定网络感染率的结构特征)。这项研究将在方法学和公共卫生方面做出贡献。这些建模方法将网络模拟(包括扩散/渗流研究和网络建模)整合到当前研究方法中的潜力可能会重新点燃社会科学对微观结构因素的兴趣。关于结构性因素作用的结果也可能导致在注射吸毒者社区和普通公众中进行预防艾滋病毒的直接研究和干预战略。

This Cultural Anthropology Scholars Award will support anthropologist Dr. Kirk Dombrowski for training in advanced techniques of the computer modeling now associated with Social Network Analysis. The particular application for the training is to a persistent question about HIV infection among Injecting Drug User (IDU) communities. IDU communities regularly demonstrate stable HIV infection rates well below network saturation levels, despite consistent changes in community members, the presence of new infections, and the realignment of internal, interpersonal connections. There is strong suspicion that social network features play a significant role in the stabilization process, but at present the nature of this role is largely unknown. Mentored by Dr. Bilal Khan of the Network Research Laboratory at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Dr. Dombrowski will develop a social network percolation model to try to better understand these lower than expected HIV rates. He will use random graph modeling to construct networks with topological similarities to those found in a well-documented study done in Brooklyn New York in the early 1990s. Various initial infection scenarios will then be iterated over these networks to uncover structural features that contribute to stable network infection rates (and those that do not). The research will make both methodological and public health contributions. The potential of these modeling methods for the integration of network simulation (including diffusion/percolation research and network modeling) into current research methods can potentially re-ignite social science interest in micro-structural factors. The results about the role of structural factors also may lead to direct study and intervention strategies for the prevention of HIV in IDU communities and the general public.