HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies

About The Program

The HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies (P30-MH43520) at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University was established in 1987 under the leadership of Anke A. Ehrhardt, Ph.D., and Zena Stein, M.D., as one of the first National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) AIDS Research Centers (ARC). Now directed by Robert H. Remien, Ph.D., along with Co-Directors Claude Ann Mellins, Ph.D. and Gina Wingood, Sc.D., M.P.H., the HIV Center is one of the oldest and most productive continuously funded AIDS research centers in the United States, coordinating U.S.-based research and continuing to have an international footprint with research projects in many countries.

With its renewal in 2018, the HIV Center is guided by the theme, The Science of Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic (EtE): Efficacy to Effectiveness at Scale, and its emphasis on implementation research as well as research at the intersection of behavioral, social, and biomedical sciences. The HIV Center works to address U.S. and global EtE goals by addressing three major behavioral and social science challenges:

1. Vulnerabilities that facilitate risk for HIV transmission and impede adherence to prevention and care, including mental health and substance use problems and other social and health disparities that influence outcomes along the HIV prevention and care continuum
2. Use of innovative behavioral and social science research to maximize effectiveness of biomedical technologies
3. Optimal translation of this research into culturally and contextually sound evidence-based interventions and structurally competent practices and policies for maximum public health impact

The HIV Center also increases the capacity of current and future generations of scientists, service providers, and community and policy leaders. Faculty and collaborators come from a range of schools and departments at Columbia University, academic centers of excellence throughout New York such as the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and departments of health at city, state, and international levels. Housed within the Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health of the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, the HIV Center also supports the work of an NIMH Postdoctoral Fellowship Program on Behavioral Sciences Training in HIV Infection (T32-MH019139). Directed by Theodorus G.M. Sandfort, Ph.D., along with Co-Directors Claude Ann Mellins, Ph.D., and John Santelli, M.D., M.P.H., the program provides innovative training in gender, sexuality, and mental health research as applied to HIV prevention and HIV treatment and care across populations in both national and global contexts.

For more information about the HIV Center, please visit its website.

Global Mental Health Projects at the HIV Center:

Kenya:

iPrEP: A Combination Strategy For HIV Prevention Among Young Female Sex Workers in Kisumu, Kenya

Lesotho:

PROvide Miner-friendly Services for Integrated HIV/TB Care (PROMISE Study)

South Africa:

ARV-Based Prevention and Treatment in Female Sex Workers in Durban, South Africa

Developing a Gender-Enhanced PrEP Information-Motivation Workshop for Young South African Women

Improving Assessment for Neurocognitive Impairment among Perinatally HIV Infected Youth

Standing Tall – A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Community-Based Intervention to Improve Health Outcomes for Newly Diagnosed HIV-Positive Young Adults in South Africa

VUKA Family Program: Supporting Perinatally HIV-infected Youth in South Africa

Thailand:

SUUBI4HERUgandaDeterminants of Resilience in Youth with HIV infection and Youth affected by HIV

Using Mobile Technology to Improve Assessment of Neurocognitive Impairment among Perinatally-HIV Infected Youth in Resource Limited Settings

Uganda:

Structural and Social Transitions Among Adolescents in Rakai (SSTAR)

USA:

E-Connect: A Service System Intervention for Justice Youth at Risk for Suicide

Family Engagement, Cross-System Linkage to SU treatment for Juvenile Probationers

HPTN 078: Optimizing Surveillance and Enhancing Treatment (ET) for Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in the United States

Identity Development, Risk, and Resilience among Gender Diverse Populations

Link2CARE: Health And Justice – A Continuum Of Care For HIV And Substance Use For Justice-Involved Youth

Rapid Home Test to Reduce Sexual Risk Behavior in MSM and Transgender Women (USA, Puerto Rico)

Risk and Resilience Trajectories to Young Adulthood: The Role of Perinatal HIV

Social convoys, cognitive reserve, and resilience across the lifespan