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（K24）中期职业研究者奖的竞争性更新。这个奖项将为我提供受保护的时间，继续指导开始以病人为导向的研究人员，并提高我自己的研究技能。在K24奖提供的前5年支持期间，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，我还担任了三名NIH K23获奖者的主要导师，共同指导了五名K23获奖者，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/学员。此外，在过去的5年里，我与学员共同撰写了大约23篇同行评审的出版物。目前迫切需要一个新的调查人员管道，特别是那些来自代表性不足的群体的调查人员。Alpert Brown医学院有几个NIH T32和R25培训赠款，为早期职业科学家提供高质量的指导和教学培训;我是其中六个培训赠款的教师。我提议的5年持续支持将使我能够投入大量时间来指导新的临床研究人员，并提交R25教育研究项目奖，该项目将为来自代表性不足群体的博士前研究生和医学生提供高质量的夏季研究经验，特别关注对艾滋病毒和其他性传播感染（STI）进行干预研究。经济上处于不利地位，精神病患者，被监禁和受害）妇女。在与艾滋病毒研究的几位专家协商后，我的K24奖的续签将增加我在高危妇女艾滋病毒和性传播感染预防研究方面的经验，知识和技能。我提出的培训和研究计划将实现以下目标：（1）在我以前对低收入妇女进行的干预工作的基础上，包括艾滋病毒和性传播感染预防研究，以及（2）将这些技能传授给我指导的许多种族/少数民族临床科学家，以促进他们在以患者为导向的研究中的职业生涯。与公共卫生的相关性：有亲密伴侣暴力、其他人际创伤史和心理健康问题的妇女，无论是在病史还是艾滋病毒风险行为方面，感染艾滋病毒和其他性传播感染的风险都很高。将艾滋病毒研究纳入我目前对经济上处于不利地位的、有心理健康困难的受害妇女的研究，将扩大我的研究，以解决这些弱势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，我将帮助培养一批研究人员，他们将继续对一批研究不足和服务不足的妇女进行研究，并解决研究界未满足的需求。

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.