HIV and Sexual Health
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Julia Marcus
Doug Krakower
Vanessa McMahan
Project Summary
The primary research focus of the HIV and Sexual Health portfolio is to promote HIV prevention and sexual health in the U.S., particularly by improving the implementation of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for populations likely to benefit.
The team includes Julia Marcus, PhD, MPH, epidemiologist and Associate Professor; Douglas Krakower, MD, infectious disease physician and Associate Professor, who also practices at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; and Vanessa McMahan, PhD, MS, health services researcher and Member of the Faculty. Together, they have extensive experience leading quantitative and qualitative studies on PrEP implementation across a variety of health care delivery and community settings. This research is primarily funded through the National Institutes of Health.
Portfolio Details
The faculty’s HIV-related projects have used electronic health record (EHR), survey, and qualitative data to identify people likely to benefit from PrEP, characterize community preferences for PrEP products and delivery, quantify clinical outcomes among PrEP users, and characterize gaps and inequities in the PrEP continuum of care. The faculty’s work is cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in clinical guidelines for PrEP provision and as key evidence of the effectiveness of PrEP, and has been implemented in diverse clinical settings across the US to improve PrEP provision for patients likely to benefit.
Recent HIV-related Projects
Examples of recent HIV-related projects include studies to:
- Test whether an EHR-based decision support tool with an embedded HIV prediction model can improve PrEP discussions and prescribing safety-net clinics
- Evaluate real-world use and impact of long-acting injectable PrEP, and of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent bacterial sexually transmitted infections among HIV PrEP users
- Implement and evaluate a strategy for linking people to PrEP in the Dallas County jail
- Tailor long-acting injectable PrEP delivery for gay and bisexual men who use methamphetamine
- Assess video directly observed therapy plus contingency management to support daily, oral PrEP adherence among men who use methamphetamine
- Evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact of making PrEP available over the counter