DP1DA056106

Ending HIV: Bringing Integrated Prevention and Treatment Services to People Who Use Drugs Where They Live - Project Abstract:

The United States (U.S.) Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Plan's primary goal is to reduce the number of new HIV infections by 90% by 2030, but this will not happen unless we develop ways to bring the evidenced-based services to persons who use drugs (PWUD).

Overdose deaths are dramatically increasing in the US, and fentanyl and stimulants are fueling new HIV epidemics. My career and my passion revolve around integration of treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) and other substance use disorders with HIV treatment and prevention.

Through over 20 years of direct clinical care as an infectious disease and addiction medicine physician combined with substantial clinical research expertise involving PWUD living with and at risk of HIV, I know the blind spots in the EHE plan and I can fill them in with this Pioneer Award.

My pioneering award vision is to:

1) Train persons who live in the communities affected by high levels of overdose to be community health workers (CHWs) to provide the HIV testing and rapid diagnosis of OUD;

2) Create mobile hubs that are pharmacies and clinics on wheels that can be deployed to immediately dispense pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), antiretroviral therapy (ART), and medication treatment for OUD (MOUD) anywhere;

3) Develop rapidly deployable mobile rapid response teams (the Mobile Spokes) comprised of the CHWs and pharmacists with 24-hour access to online clinicians that deploy out from the mobile hubs to where the CHWs identify to bring the medications (PrEP/ART based on the rapid HIV testing results, and MOUD to people who have a diagnosis of OUD) to where people 'live';

4) Collaborate with researchers, including modelers, to prioritize where outbreaks of HIV are most likely to occur and provide a collaboration hub for others working in the fields of HIV and substance use disorders to help inform this proposed care model.

Through this award, I will also ensure that the mobile rapid response teams continue to follow people and help them retain on the medications and address competing needs to eliminate barriers to accessing services.

Thus, the overall idea in this Pioneer Award is providing low barrier services at multiple access points in line with the EHE plans where we would be bringing the testing and treatment plans (MOUD, PrEP/ART) to PWUD and retaining them via non-traditional methods where they live.

Through using trained persons who live in the communities (CHWs) with shared living experiences of their community members who use drugs and are at risk or living with HIV, we can provide the testing and diagnosis services combined with pharmacists to dispense the medications in real-time to people who typically do not have access to our normal clinical or research venues including women, justice-involved persons, immigrants, the uninsured, and underrepresented minorities.

I have the experience, the passion, the work ethic, and the collaborative team to help end HIV in PWUD through this Pioneer Award.

Yale Univ

TO SUPPORT BASIC AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE, BIOMEDICAL, BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, EPIDEMIOLOGIC, HEALTH SERVICES AND HEALTH DISPARITY RESEARCH. TO DEVELOP NEW KNOWLEDGE AND APPROACHES RELATED TO THE PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, ETIOLOGY, AND CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG ABUSE AND ADDICTION, INCLUDING HIV/AIDS. TO SUPPORT RESEARCH TRAINING AND RESEARCH SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT. TO SUPPORT DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) LEGISLATION IS INTENDED TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAMS TO EMPHASIZE AND INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED THROUGH FEDERAL SBIR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN THE SBIR PROGRAM. THE LEGISLATION INTENDS THAT THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.279 - Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) [HHS - NIH]

New Haven, Connecticut 065102483 United States

Single Zip Code

NIDA Avant-Garde Award Program for HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Disorder Research (DP1, Clinical Trial Optional) (PAR-20-221)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 314% from $1,172,500 to $4,857,421.