Reducing HIV/STI Risk Behaviors among Financially Disadvantaged Victimized Women

描述(由申请人提供)：目前的提案是以前资助的以患者为导向的研究的职业生涯中期奖(K24)的竞争性续展。这一奖项将为我提供有保障的时间，让我继续指导以患者为导向的研究人员，并提高我自己的研究技能。在K24奖项提供支持的头5年里，我提升了自己作为研究导师的技能，并获得了额外的联邦资金用于以患者为导向的研究。在此期间，我还担任过三名NIH K23奖获得者的主要导师，共同指导了五名K23奖获得者，并指导了五名获得NIH或私人基金会独立研究支持的初级研究人员/实习生。此外，在过去的5年里，我与学员共同撰写了大约23本同行评议的出版物。迫切需要一条初级调查人员的管道，特别是那些来自代表性不足群体的调查人员。阿尔伯特·布朗医学院有几个NIH T32和R25培训助学金，为职业生涯早期的科学家提供高质量的指导和教学培训；我是其中六个培训助学金的教员。我提议的5年持续支持将使我能够投入大量时间指导新的临床研究人员，并提交R25教育研究项目奖，该奖项将为来自代表性不足群体的博士生预科毕业生和医学生提供高质量的暑期研究体验，重点是对高危(例如，经济困难、精神病、监禁和受害)女性进行艾滋病毒和其他性传播感染(STI)的干预研究。在与几位艾滋病毒研究专家协商后，我的K24奖的续签将增加我在艾滋病毒和高危妇女性传播感染预防研究方面的经验、知识和技能。我建议的培训和研究计划将实现以下目标：(1)在我之前对有精神健康困难风险的低收入女性的干预工作的基础上，将艾滋病毒和性传播感染预防研究包括在内，以及(2)将这些技能传播给我指导的许多种族/少数民族临床医生科学家，努力在以患者为导向的研究中推进他们自己的职业生涯。与公共卫生的相关性：有亲密伴侣暴力、其他人际关系创伤史和精神健康困难的妇女，在病史和艾滋病毒危险行为方面，感染艾滋病毒和其他性传播疾病的风险增加。将艾滋病毒研究纳入我目前对经济困难、受害的精神健康困难妇女的研究，将扩大我的研究，以解决这些脆弱妇女面临的重大和相互关联的公共卫生问题。通过对干预研究的指导，我将帮助培养一支研究队伍，他们将继续与研究不足和服务不足的妇女群体进行研究，并解决研究界未得到满足的需求。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The current proposal is a competitive renewal of a previously funded Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24). This award will provide me with protected time to continue mentoring beginning patient-oriented researchers and to enhance my own research skills. During the first 5 years of support provided by the K24 award, I have upgraded my own skill set as a research mentor and obtained additional federal funding for patient-oriented research. I have also, during this period, served as a primary mentor to three NIH K23 award recipients, co-mentored five K23 award recipients, and mentored five junior investigators/trainees who have received independent research support from NIH or private foundations. Furthermore, during the last 5 years, I have co-authored approximately 23 peer-reviewed publications with trainees. There is an urgent need for a pipeline of beginning investigators, especially those from underrepresented groups. Alpert Brown Medical School has several NIH T32 and R25 training grants that provide quality mentoring and didactic training to early-career scientists; I am faculty on six of these training grants. My proposed 5 years of continued support will allow me to devote substantial time to mentoring new clinical investigators and to submit a R25 Education Research Project Award that will provide pre-doctoral graduate and medical students from underrepresented groups with a high quality summer research experience with a particular focus on conducting intervention research on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with high-risk (e.g., financially-disadvantaged, mentally ill, incarcerated, and victimized) women. In consultation with several experts in HIV research, the renewal of my K24 award will increase my experience, knowledge and skills in HIV and STI prevention research with high-risk women. My proposed training and research plan will achieve the aims of (1) building on my previous intervention work with low-income women at risk for mental health difficulties to include HIV and STI prevention research, and (2) transmitting these skills to the many racial/ethnic minority clinician scientists I mentor in an effort to advance their own careers in patient- oriented research. Relevance to Public Health: Women with intimate partner violence, other interpersonal trauma histories, and mental health difficulties, have an elevated risk for HIV and other STIs, both in terms of disease history and HIV risk behaviors. The integration of HIV research into my current research with financially- disadvantaged, victimized women with mental health difficulties will expand my research to address significant and interconnected public health problems facing these vulnerable women. Through mentoring on intervention research, I will help to develop a cadre of researchers that will continue research with an understudied and underserved group of women and address the unmet needs of the research community.