Sociobehavioral and Prevention Research

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Innovative approaches to integrating biomedical and behavioral science are at the cutting edge of HIV prevention and treatment. To be effective, the most promising biomedical interventions will require behavioral expertise -- predicated on research that incorporates the social and community context. The value of behavioral research is in turn leveraged by the integration of biological interventions and outcomes. The Sociobehavioral and Prevention Research Core (SPRC) facilitates such collaborations among social, behavioral and clinical scientists working on HIV at the UW. In its inaugural cycle, the SPRC was highly successful in meeting its core aims of providing technical assistance, sponsoring public education events, publishing state-of-the-art reviews, and establishing new investigators in the areas of (1) prevention intervention studies, (2) clinical adherence research, and (3) modeling HIV transmission dynamics and partnership networks. In addition, the core established five new institutional mechanisms for collaborative research and practice. In this renewal we have refined our aims to focus on (1) HIV prevention research support, and (2) community outreach for translation of research findings into practice. The new synergistic aims build on our original strengths, reflect our evolving direction, and extend our capacity in the emerging areas of biomedical prevention interventions and community-based participatory research. Specifically, the first aim of HIV prevention research support comprises the provision of technical assistance and organization of forums for interdisciplinary research community development, with a new focus on expanding substantive expertise in substance use, mental health, and qualitative methods. The second aim of supporting community outreach involves working globally. Locally, we are proposing a new Community Outreach subcore to facilitate collaboration with our Community Action Board and the Seattle/King County Public Health Department on community-based research priorities and translational opportunities. Internationally, we have formalized links to the International Core to identify collaborative research and translational opportunities and established a new NIH-funded Center on HIV Prevention Research at the University of Nairobi.