Saturday, September 7, 2024
9/7/2024
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Career Goal: I am committed to a career as an independent research scientist contributing to the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions to improve sexual health among adolescents, and reduce disparities in health outcomes. Career Development: This K99/R00 Award will provide an additional period of mentored training to support my transition to an independent investigator by the end of the K99 phase. My training objectives are to: (1) master methodological strategies for conducting formative research necessary for health intervention adaptation and tailoring; (2) gain a proficient understanding of adolescent sexual minority male (ASMM) health and sexual assertiveness training needs; (3) identify core principles and applications of implementation science to successfully conduct a clinical trial with an effectiveness-implementation hybrid design; and (4) develop skills and expertise to facilitate a successful transition into a fully independent research scientist, including those needed to conduct randomized controlled trials of behavioral interventions. Research Project: ASMM are at disproportionately high risk for acquiring HIV/STIs and report lower rates of condom use compared to their heterosexual peers. Assertive sexual communication is associated with higher rates of condom use among adolescents; however, ASMM do not receive adequate information or skills about sexual assertiveness. The purpose of this research is to adapt an existing digital health intervention, originally designed to provide a general population of teens with information about sexual consent, to include a focus on condom negotiation and tailor content specifically for ASMM. The project has two Specific Aims: (1) adapt the sexual consent intervention (PACT) to serve as skills-based sexual assertiveness and condom negotiation training for ASMM; and (2) evaluate the adapted PACT intervention among ASMM in an effectiveness- implementation hybrid design. Mentorship: I have assembled a dedicated mentoring team of experts to provide ongoing guidance on my proposed research and training activities. This team includes a primary mentor (Dr. Eric Walsh-Buhi, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington [IU SPH-B]), a secondary mentor (Dr. Kathryn Macapagal, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine), and a panel of scientific advisors in the Department of Applied Health Science at IU SPH-B (Drs. Kristen Jozkowski, Karla Galaviz, and Debby Herbenick). Future Directions: Skills and data acquired from this proposal will support a future R01 proposal to conduct further trials of PACT.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
