Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Social Lives of HIV Prevention Drugs

自进入市场以来，暴露前预防（PrEP）已经改变了艾滋病毒预防领域。研究证明，PrEP是一种由常规抗逆转录病毒药物组成的每日一次的药丸，可用于预防用途，在降低个人感染艾滋病毒的风险方面非常有效。虽然研究已经证明了PrEP的治疗效果，但这一治疗革命对不同群体和人群的社会影响仍未得到充分研究。该奖项支持的研究使用人种学方法调查不同人群和个人如何使用PrEP，询问这种药物的使用如何影响个人实践以及对风险的认识。除了资助一名人类学研究生在经验、科学数据收集和分析方法方面的培训外，该项目还将加强对艾滋病毒预防策略和治疗的社会影响的科学理解。该研究将在16个月的时间内进行，在此背景下，通过生产和分销国家生产的仿制药，PrEP已广泛获得。这名研究人员将在四个不同的社区环境中开展工作：一个艾滋病政策研究所、一个私人诊所、一个社区组织，以及一些对当地经济有重要意义的商业和活动场所。数据将通过参与观察收集；与卫生政策制定者、医生、社区组织者、PrEP使用者和其他利益攸关方的访谈；以及来自不同人群的PrEP使用者的焦点小组和生活史。这项研究的结果将产生政策制定者、公共卫生从业人员和社会科学家需要的多视角数据，以了解影响这些新形式治疗的获取和更广泛经验的因素。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Since its arrival to the market, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) has transformed the field of HIV prevention. A once a day pill composed of conventional antiretrovirals repurposed for preventative use, research has proven PrEP to be highly effective in reducing individual risk of HIV infection. While studies have demonstrated PrEP’s therapeutic efficacy, the social effects of this therapeutic revolution across different groups and populations remains understudied. The research supported by this award uses ethnographic methods to investigate how different populations and individuals use PrEP, asking how the use of this drug effects individual practices, as well as perceptions of risk. In addition to providing funding for the training of a graduate student in anthropology in the methods of empirical, scientific data collection and analysis, the project will enhance scientific understandings of the social effects of HIV prevention strategies and therapies. The research will take place over 16 months in a context where PrEP has been made widely available through the production and distribution of a state manufactured generic. The researcher will work across four different community settings: a HIV policy institute, a private clinic, a community organization, and a selection of commercial and event venues that are significant to the local economy. Data will be collected through participant observation; interviews with health policy makers, doctors, community organizers, PrEP users, and other stakeholders; and focus groups and life histories of PrEP users from different population groups. Findings from this research will produce multi-perspective data needed by policy makers, public health practitioners, and social scientists to understand the factors that condition both access to and the broader experiences of these novel forms of therapy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.