LEveraging A viRtual eNvironment (LEARN) to Enhance Prevention of HIV-related Comorbidities in at-risk Minority MSM

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LEveraging A viRtual eNvironment (LEARN) to Enhance Prevention of HIV-related Comorbidities in at-risk Minority MSM Project Summary The candidate is an Assistant Professor with expertise in chronic illness and informatics whose overarching career goal is to use health technology interventions to contribute to the achievement of health equity through behavior change and comorbidity prevention in diverse and underserved populations living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In order to support this goal and leverage their experiences to date, the Mentored Career Development Award training will focus on three areas: 1) Cardiovascular disease prevention in ethnic/racial MSM, 2) Virtual environment (VE) theory and design, 3) advanced research design methods and innovative analytic approaches. Training will consist of didactic and experiential training, workshops intensives, and attendance at national scientific meetings. The candidate is supported by a distinguished team of mentors who are leaders in their respective fields with successful NIH-funded programs of research in cardiovascular disease and chronic illness prevention, technology-based interventions; and advanced methodological design. The long-term goal of this research is to utilize a VE as a means to increase access to online social supports and increase health promotion skills that can be transferred to the real world and result in the prevention of HIV-related cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. The overall objective of this application is twofold: 1) to receive the training and research experience necessary to become an independent researcher who uses health technology interventions for HIV-related chronic illness prevention, and 2) to address the NIH/NHLBI's call for a diverse early-career scientific workforce (e.g. RFA-HL-19- 025). As part of the mentored research, an exploratory sequential wait-list control feasibility clinical trial will be conducted. Aim 1: Explore perceptions about HIV-related comorbidities (i.e., importance, concern) among minority MSM living with HIV. Aim 2: Test the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects of a VE to address prevention of HIV- related CVD comorbidities through behavioral and psychosocial outcomes. Aim 2a: Characterize the social network structure and behaviors using process data collected from the VE-based intervention. In Aim 1, 15 qualitative interviews will explore perceptions of HIV-related comorbidity concerns. Aim 2 will be addressed in an iterative multiphase approach. In phase one I will beta test the VE prior to deployment in the proposed clinical feasibility trial. In phase two, I will use the Learning in Virtual Environments (LIVE©) platform to conduct a wait-list control feasibility clinical trial with 80 adult, minority, MSM living with HIV and at-risk for HIV-related comorbidities. While this type of technology has been applied effectively in diabetes and other chronic disease, the ways in which VEs can be used to facilitate knowledge and health promoting behaviors for prevention of HIV-related comorbidities in MSM has not been studied, making this proposal significant and innovative. It is expected that the Mentored Development Award study will represent an early step in the field for prevention of HIV-related comorbidities in ethnic minority MSM and provide the foundation for a R01-funded clinical trial.