Despite dramatically escalating HIV rates among African Americans, few African Americans in the US engage in HIV clinical research. The dearth of African American researchers has likely hindered development of effective measures to combat the epidemic in this population. The mentoring goal of this proposal is to increase the pool of researchers - especially African American investigators - who conduct HIV-related patient oriented research. The proposal outlines a plan to recruit and provide training and support to mentees as they advance to research independence. The research goals of this proposal are to examine several key factors that foster and maintain continued HIV transmission and racial disparities in HIV-related morbidity and mortality among African Americans. The proposed research will examine: 1) factors associated with late diagnosis among African Americans with heterosexually transmitted HIV infection and 2) virologic treatment failure's relationship to neighborhood- level poverty and public prescription drug insurance. The studies will build on my previous research concerning the epidemiology of heterosexually transmitted HIV infection and the importance of socioeconomic contextual factors in population HIV transmission among African Americans. Through the proposed studies and work with UNC Health Policy and Administration faculty, I propose to extend my research skills to include health outcomes and health policy. These studies will provide empiric data for development of future individual-level and community-level structural interventions to decrease HIV transmission among African Americans and decrease morbidity and mortality among HIV+ African Americans and others in the South and the rest of the nation.
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