This Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) will enable me to 1) acquire expertise in the research methods of developing structural HIV prevention interventions targeting substance using female sex workers (FSWs); 2) increase knowledge of substance abuse epidemiology, assessment and prevention; 3) obtain additional training in the culturally competent ethical conduct of research involving behavioral and biological HIV/STI data collection, violence measurement, and structural interventions in a new international setting; 4) learn how to design RCTs of interventions and conduct related longitudinal data analyses (GLMM); 5) hone skills needed for a successful academic career studying the intersection of substance use, HIV/STI acquisition, and structural risk and protective factors among high risk populations, including grantsmanship and disseminating scientific research findings nationally and internationally. My career development plan will include a mixture of didactic courses, seminars, hands-on field research experience, and mentored independent studies which will provide me with training in intervention evaluation methodologies, substance use epidemiology, and clinical biomarkers. For example, I will take courses in longitudinal data analyses (e.g. event history and survival, and cost-benefit analyses). I will work with a world-renowned mentoring team and an infrastructure already in place in Mexico, with the goal of applying what I learn to other national contexts as well. I will train in intervention adaptation while simultaneously practicing rigorous RCT evaluation methodologies (Generalized Linear Mixed Modeling (GLMM)) on existing data, with the goal of becoming one of a few structural HIV prevention intervention researchers for FSWs worldwide. My proposed K01 project Mujeres Unidas (Women United) will be embedded in the NIDA funded parent grant, Proyecto Mapa de Salud (R01DA028692-01, PI: Brouwer), which explores HIV/STI transmission among FSWs and other vulnerable populations along the Mexico/U.S. border. In Tijuana, Mexico, Mujeres Unidas will 1) qualitatively interview FSWs (N=30) and FSW advocates/organizers (N=20) about community mobilization and the role of substance use; 2) adapt measures of community mobilization to the Tijuana context through cognitive testing with FSWs (n=10) to ensure readability and acceptability, and 3) determine the prevalence of community mobilization participation and its association with substance use, HIV/STI prevalence and sexual risk behaviors among FSWs by adding adapted measures to the parent grant's 12- month follow up surveys (N=300 FSWs). Results will generate pilot data for a future R34 grant application to pilot/feasibility test an adapted preventive intervention targeting drug use and HIV infection acquisition.

Public Health Relevance

Along the U.S./Mexico border, vulnerable groups such as substance using female sex workers (FSWs) are especially at high risk for HIV infection. Community mobilization (organizing FSWs around their rights and health) has proven effective in other contexts, but we have little understanding about its impact on mitigating HIV transmission in Mexico or in settings like Mexico where substance use is widespread. This K01 proposal, Mujeres Unidas, will train the candidate in structural HIV prevention intervention research methods which will uniquely position her as one of only a handful of researchers focusing on structural interventions with FSWs worldwide (the only one focusing on community mobilization among substance using FSWs), and the only one conducting research on community mobilization among FSWs in Mexico in the Division of Global Public Health at the University of California, San Diego.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
5K01DA036439-05
Application #
9263927
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSCH)
Program Officer
Jenkins, Richard A
Project Start
2014-04-01
Project End
2019-03-31
Budget Start
2017-04-01
Budget End
2018-03-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
San Diego State University
Department
Social Sciences
Type
Schools of Social Welfare/Work
DUNS #
073371346
City
San Diego
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92182
Tsuyuki, Kiyomi; Gipson, Jessica D; Barbosa, Regina Maria et al. (2018) Preventing syndemic Zika virus, HIV/STIs and unintended pregnancy: dual method use and consistent condom use among Brazilian women in marital and civil unions. Cult Health Sex 20:1006-1022
Salas-Espinoza, Kristian Jesús; Menchaca-Diaz, Rufino; Patterson, Thomas L et al. (2017) HIV Prevalence and Risk Behaviors in Male to Female (MTF) Transgender Persons in Tijuana, Mexico. AIDS Behav 21:3271-3278
Tsuyuki, Kiyomi; Pitpitan, Eileen V; Levi-Minzi, Maria A et al. (2017) Substance Use Disorders, Violence, Mental Health, and HIV: Differentiating a Syndemic Factor by Gender and Sexuality. AIDS Behav 21:2270-2282
Smith, Laramie R; Yore, Jennifer; Triplett, Daniel P et al. (2017) Impact of Sexual Violence Across the Lifespan on HIV Risk Behaviors Among Transgender Women and Cisgender People Living With HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 75:408-416
Tsuyuki, Kiyomi; Gipson, Jessica D; Urada, Lianne A et al. (2016) Dual protection to address the global syndemic of HIV and unintended pregnancy in Brazil. J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 42:271-279
Urada, Lianne A; Simmons, Janie; Wong, Betty et al. (2016) A human rights-focused HIV intervention for sex workers in Metro Manila, Philippines: evaluation of effects in a quantitative pilot study. Int J Public Health 61:945-957
Urada, Lianne A; Halterman, Sonja; Raj, Anita et al. (2016) Socio-structural and behavioral risk factors associated with trafficked history of female bar/spa entertainers in the sex trade in the Philippines. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 132:55-9
Gaines, Tommi L; Urada, Lianne A; Martinez, Gustavo et al. (2015) Short-term cessation of sex work and injection drug use: evidence from a recurrent event survival analysis. Addict Behav 45:63-9
Urada, Lianne A; Silverman, Jay G; Cordisco Tsai, Laura et al. (2014) Underage youth trading sex in the Philippines: trafficking and HIV risk. AIDS Care 26:1586-91