Using GIS to Study IDU Risk Environments in Tijuana

描述(由申请人提供)： 拟议的为期五年的职业奖励将为金伯利·布劳沃博士提供地理信息系统(地理信息系统)和社会流行病学方面的保护时间和方法学专业知识，以对与药物使用和血液传播感染有关的风险环境进行创新研究。布劳威尔博士此前曾因传染病流行病学研究获得富布赖特奖，并已发表或出版了9篇论文。她最近离开了疾病控制和预防中心，前往学术界，现在是加州大学圣地亚哥分校的研究生研究员。在她职业生涯的这个阶段，至关重要的是向她提供必要的时间和培训机会，使她成为一名独立的公共卫生调查员。这项建议的职业和培训目标是：1)培养在地理信息系统环境中建立复杂模型的技能；2)熟练掌握空间和多层次分析；3)增加对与药物使用和随后的疾病有关的环境和社会因素的交集的了解；4)获得研究道德行为方面的持续培训；5)为学术生涯培养一般技能。该计划包括由一组药物滥用、地理信息系统和社会流行病学方面的专家进行有组织的课程作业和指导。培训的一个关键组成部分将涉及设计和进行一项研究，以确定墨西哥提华纳注射毒品使用的风险环境的特征。虽然已经做了很多研究来表征药物使用的个人水平的风险因素，但对背景决定因素的了解相对较少。拟议研究的目的是：1)开发一个可能影响提华纳注射吸毒者(IDU)的社会和环境因素的地理信息系统模型；2)确定社会和环境因素与特定注射药物组合的使用、血液传播感染的危险行为以及获得药物滥用治疗和无菌注射器的障碍相关的程度；3)评估通过受访者驱动的抽样招募的人的空间分布与IDU危险行为和疾病流行的关系。注射毒品的使用，特别是在美国和墨西哥边境，被认为是最近艾滋病毒和丙型肝炎感染上升的主要原因。该项目将在美墨边境最繁忙的口岸之一进行。更好地了解影响该地区注射吸毒者疾病传播的环境因素可用于更好地设计边境两侧的卫生干预措施。这项研究产生的数据将被申请者用来开发后续的R01申请。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed five-year career award will provide Kimberly Brouwer, Ph.D., with protected time and the methodological expertise in geographic information systems (GIS) and social epidemiology needed to conduct innovative research on risk environments related to drug use and bloodborne infections. Dr. Brouwer previously received a Fulbright award for infectious disease epidemiology research, and has 9 papers published or in press. She recently left the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for academia and is now a post-graduate researcher at the University of California, San Diego. It is critical at this stage in her career that she be afforded the time and training opportunities needed to become established as an independent public health investigator. The career and training goals of this proposal are to: 1) Develop skills for building a complex model within a GIS environment, 2) Gain proficiency in spatial and multi-level analysis, 3) Increase understanding of the intersection of environmental and social factors in relation to drug use and consequent diseases, 4) Obtain ongoing training in the ethical conduct of research, and 5) Build general skills for an academic career. The plan includes structured coursework and mentoring by a group of experts in drug abuse, GIS, and social epidemiology. A key component of training will involve designing and conducting a study to characterize the risk environment associated with injection drug use in Tijuana, Mexico. While much research has been done to characterize individual-level risk factors for drug use, comparatively little is known about contextual determinants. The aims of the proposed research are to: 1) Develop a GIS model of social and environmental factors potentially affecting injection drug users (IDU) in Tijuana, 2) Determine the extent to which social and environmental factors relate to use of specific injection drug combinations, risk behaviors for bloodborne infections, and barriers to accessing drug abuse treatment and sterile syringes, 3) Assess how the spatial distribution of those recruited through respondent-driven sampling relates to IDU risk behaviors and disease prevalence. Injection drug use, particularly along the U.S.-Mexican border, is considered to be a major contributor to a recent rise in HIV and Hepatitis C infections. This project will take place along one of the busiest crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border. Gaining a better understanding of environmental factors that affect disease transmission in IDUs in this area can be used to better design health interventions on both sides of the border. Data generated from this study will be used by the applicant to develop a subsequent R01 application.