HIV Data Science, Developmental, Social, and Translational Research Branch

Overview

This Branch supports basic and applied behavioral and social science research (BSSR) in HIV prevention, treatment, and cure. This includes the discovery, building, experimenting, simulating, developing, and testing of strategies to advance uptake of biomedical and behavioral HIV prevention or treatment. Research to advance the understanding of clinical and social determinants that impact a range of HIV outcomes as well as research focusing on the development of integrated biomedical-behavioral interventions for prevention and care and approaches to sustain protective behavior changes are encouraged. Studies that examine the neurobehavioral and neuropsychiatric consequences of HIV throughout the lifespan, as well as clinical neuroscience-related factors relevant to key populations placed at risk for HIV, are also a priority.

The programmatic focus of this Branch is to use novel approaches to identify and address the needs of people living with HIV, with a greater likelihood of acquiring HIV, or affected by HIV in global and domestic settings. The Branch prioritizes research focused on high incidence populations, including:(1) Black/African Americans and Hispanic/Latinx, particularly men who have sex with men (MSM), (2) cisgender women, migrants, and sexual and gender (SGM) minority young adults, and (3) adolescent girls and young women and SGM in sub-Saharan Africa and other low- and middle-income country settings. In addition, the Branch supports research that examines the impacts of HIV across development, particularly in infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Research that seeks to elucidate the clinical and social environmental determinants of HIV is encouraged, as is the use of novel data sources (e.g., social media, weather maps, and other geospatial data) that can help close the gap between the availability and demand for mental health and HIV prevention and treatment services. The Branch supports cross-cutting research aligned with the NIH Office of AIDS Research Priorities (https://www.oar.nih.gov/hiv-policy-and-research/research-priorities ), the NIMH Strategic Plan (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/strategic-planning-reports), and the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science (https://datascience.nih.gov/nih-strategic-plan-data-science ) across six programmatic areas:

• Adolescent and Young Adult HIV Research Program
• Clinical Neuroscience of HIV Program
• Communication, Dissemination, and Engagement Research Program for the Prevention, Treatment and Cure of HIV
• Data Science and Emerging Methodologies in HIV
• HIV Testing and Social Determinants Program
• Human Mobility and HIV

Contact

Lori A. J. Scott-Sheldon, PhD
Email: lori.scott-sheldon@nih.gov
Mobile: 301-792-2309
To schedule a meeting: Book time with Scott-Sheldon, Lori (NIH/NIMH) [E]