Current Projects

3T-Prevent: Expanding implementation of HIV and bacterial STI prevention

In the U.S., incidence rates of HIV and bacterial sexually transmitted infections (BSTIs) are disproportionately high among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men—referred to herein as sexual minority men (SMM)—compared to men who have sex with women only. Roughly 10% of HIV incidence is attributable to increased transmission due to untreated active chlamydia and gonorrhea infections among SMM, and 64% of syphilis cases occur among SMM.

Our team has studied women’s health and smoking behavior for over 30 years, and we have found that specific factors, including changes in sex hormone levels, psychosocial factors, and cigarette craving symptoms, are associated with smoking behavior and smoking relapse.

According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, about 290,000 adults in Minnesota need treatment for addiction. 

Gynecologic cancers can have devastating effects on the sexual and relationship health of those who survive it. 

The NatureUplift study is a two-arm pilot randomized trial designed to evaluate the effects of a nature-based curriculum with a hiking component on moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity, mental health outcomes, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure among African American parent-child dyads.

In this study, we iteratively developed a limited interaction, person-centered, and theory-based mHealth intervention to support sexual wellbeing, HIV testing, and PrEP uptake tailored to YSMM who could benefit from PrEP in partnership with a youth advisory board. The “OnPOINT” (Online Prevention Opportunities for Individuals using Nationwide Tips) website optimized for mobile phone use included multimodal content aligned with information-motivation-behavioral skills constructs and an embedded PrEP resource locator.

A healthful diet during early childhood is important for healthy growth and development and contributes to the prevention of chronic diseases.

Hookah or shisha smoking is prevalent among Somali Americans in Minnesota and is used by many parents in the home.

The Isbaar Project (PI: Rebekah Pratt; Rachel Winer)

TIPS - Tailoring injectable PrEP sustainability (PI: Steven A. John, PhD, MPH)

HIV incidence is unacceptable with the availability of highly effective, evidenced-based methods of treatment and prevention. Biomedical HIV prevention has extended beyond pill-based strategies to now include long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (LAI-PrEP) via cabotegravir administered by intramuscular injection in the gluteus muscle every 8 weeks. It is heralded as a “game-changer,” but the implementation of LAI-PrEP is unjustifiably suboptimal. LAI-PrEP has high consumer demand, yet few providers are currently prescribing cabotegravir for LAI-PrEP. 

The proposed project aims to use facilitation to guide the implementation of an HPV self-sampling initiative across four primary care clinics, using the Stakeholder and Equity Data-Driven Implementation (SEDDI) approach.