This administrative supplement project seeks to use real-time geospatial methods to investigate associations between relationships, networks and neighborhoods in relation to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and other HIV-related outcomes among Asian transgender women (TW) in the New York City metropolitan statistical area (MSA). With this supplement, we will recruit 50 Asian TW to be part of the to the NIH-funded Trying To Understand Relationships, Networks and Neighborhoods among Trans women of color (TURNNT) Study (R01MD013554; PI: Dustin Duncan). We are currently recruiting 200 Black and 100 Latina TW in the TURNNT cohort using clinic- and community-based recruitment methods in partnership with Callen-Lorde Community Health Center (a major provider of healthcare for TW women in NYC) and via venue-based recruitment (e.g., dance clubs). Leveraging established partnerships with transgender communities and clinician experts, including APICHA Community Health Center (the largest service provider for Asian and Pacific Islander TW in NYC), along with community partner networks of the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health, an NIMHD Center of Excellence on Minority Health and Health Disparities, this administrative supplement represents a unique opportunity to include Asian TW in the study. Eligibility requirements include: identifying as an Asian transgender woman (individuals who were assigned a male sex at birth who identify as women, female, trans women, trans female, male-to-female or another diverse trans feminine gender identity on the spectrum); HIV-seronegative; being 16 to 55 years old; residing in the New York City MSA; self-reporting no restrictions to usual physical activity; and self-report willingness to carry a small GPS device for a week. Participants will wear the GPS device following protocols used in our previous feasibility research projects, including studies among TW. The proposed study will be the largest study of HIV disparities and risk in Asian TW. This supplement will accelerate the science and impact of the parent grant, enabling us to reach another underserved minority group, fostering cross-cultural comparisons and analyses of health disparities and HIV prevention among Asian, Black and Latina TW. This proposal is aligned with the administrative supplement and NIMHD?s special attention to sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations, and this project will accelerate the science on HIV disparities. This research will provide a context-specific and nuanced understanding of how social contextual factors may contribute to HIV prevention behaviors in transgender women of color, which will in turn inform contextually appropriate HIV prevention interventions.
This project seeks to use real-time geospatial methods to investigate associations between relationships, networks and neighborhoods in relation to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use and and other HIV-related outcomes among Asian transgender women in New York City, an understudied population in the United States.
