HIV and Substance Abuse Prevention Research

CHOIR investigators received several grants to support community-based HIV and substance abuse prevention among vulnerable youth.

Dr. Steven Lankenau

Was awarded a grant from NIH entitled "Non-Medical Prescription Drug Use Among High-Risk Youth." This four-year study will study initiation, patterns of use, and risk behaviors associated with prescription drug misuse among high-risk youth in New York and Los Angeles. 

Dr. Leslie Clark

Received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Project AIM: Adult Identity Mentoring Project. Project AIM has been identified by the CDC as an evidence-based HIV-prevention intervention that is effective for use with African American, middle-school-aged adolescents. The CDC is now supporting the adaptation of this intervention for other high-risk youth, and efficacy trials with other youth groups have been proposed to NIH

Dr. Michele Kipke

Was awarded a grant from NIH entitled “African American Young Men’s Study." The purpose of this study is to understand and characterize:

• The structural, social, and cultural characteristics of the Ball and House communities in Los Angeles
• Ball and House members’ use of illicit drugs, involvement in HIV risk and protective behaviors, and their social and sexual networks
• The role that rejection and discrimination play with respect to encouraging drug use and HIV risk, and hence might be targets for intervention

Also received a grant from NIH entitled “Young Men’s Adult Identity Mentoring.” The purpose of this study is to:

• Adapt an effective, evidence-based intervention called Project AIM (Adult Identity Mentoring) so that it is developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant for use with African-American (AA) young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in Los Angeles
• Pilot test the feasibility and acceptability of the new intervention that we will call Young Men’s AIM (YM-AIM)
• Identify barriers and facilitators with respect to implementing YM-AIM in community settings

Also received a grant from the NIH’s National Center to Reduce Disparities, in the form of a supplement, to study HIV risk and protective behaviors among Asian/Pacific Islander young men. She also received a grant from the California HIV/AIDS Research Program entitled “Asian/Pacific Islander Young Men’s Study.” This study will include pilot and feasibility research with API YMSM to:

• Characterize the concerns, fears, and perceived barriers with respect to API YMSM’s participation in HIV-related research
• Examine HIV risk/protective behaviors among API YMSM within the context of their social and sexual networks