THIRD COAST CFAR CORE D: BEHAVIORAL, SOCIAL, AND IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE CORE The Third Coast Center for AIDS Research (TC CFAR) Behavioral, Social, and Implementation Science Core (BSISC) provides a robust infrastructure to enhance development, uptake, and sustainability of effective interventions that improve the continuums of HIV prevention and care (TC CFAR Overall aim 1). BSISC resources also support researchers who are addressing non-AIDS comorbidities (Overall aim 2) and innovations to improve HIV prevention and treatment of persons living with HIV (Overall aim 3). BSISC users and its services addressing Overall aims 2 and 3 are less numerous than those addressing Overall aim 1, and not less important. BSISC emphasizes helping all TC CFAR members, and working across all Overall aims, to reach communities most impacted by the HIV epidemic. This includes young men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women of color. The Core?s aims build on the successes of the prior funding period, including a strong, continuing focus on implementation science (IS) to move research proven effective into practice at the scale needed. Resources continuing with enhancement include a BSISC data analyst ?embedded? on-site in the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to facilitate rapid access and analysis of epidemiological data from: 1) partner services; 2) case surveillance; 3) the Medical Monitoring Project (MMP), a probability sample of HIV-positive persons representative of all receiving care in Chicago; and 4) National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (samples of MSM, high risk heterosexuals, and people who inject drugs). BSISC also is now adapting or developing person (or patient)-reported outcomes (PROs) for HIV research, leveraging a strength in research fields other than HIV at our institutions. PROs can enhance scaling up of PrEP and ART interventions to improve continuums of prevention and care, as well as add new information to research on non-AIDS comorbidities during ART. Quantitative/qualitative data analyses, IS consultations/trainings, community engagement assistance, and the BSISC research participant registry (CHAMP) also are applicable to research on all Overall aims. The BSISC specific aims are: (1) to expand data sources and analytic support that drive innovative, multidisciplinary collaborations; (2) to provide consultation and training in implementation science to HIV researchers and their implementation partners that will facilitate movement of evidence-based HIV interventions into real-world practice; (3) To strengthen community participation in research, as well as community-engaged research, dialog with the public, and information exchange among researchers.
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