Project Summary / Abstract
In the United States, new HIV infections continue at a high level, with an estimated 37,515 Americans receiving
an HIV diagnosis each year. In 2019, the “Ending the HIV Epidemic” (EHE) plan for the United States was
developed with the goal of reducing new HIV infections by 75% by 2025, and by at least 90% by 2030,
representing an effort to refocus national attention on ending the domestic HIV epidemic. The need for nurse
scientists who can plan and conduct rigorous and innovative research in HIV prevention and care, including
implementation science is greater today than ever. To address this need, we propose to launch the “Next
Generation Nurse Scientists Ending the HIV Epidemic” program in the University of California, San Francisco
(UCSF) School of Nursing. The overarching goal of this T32 program is to train a diverse cadre of nurse
scientists in research methods to lead efforts to End the HIV Epidemic. This program will (1) Increase the
number of nurse scholars, especially from underrepresented groups (e.g. race, ethnicity, sexual and gender
minority, and first generation to college), who are prepared with the knowledge and skills necessary: to design
and conduct research that advances the science on HIV, HIV interventions, and HIV implementation strategies;
to design and test intervention strategies with populations experiencing intersecting stigmas, including sexual
and gender minorities, people of color, populations with multiple co-morbidities, and people who use drugs; to
employ implementation science methods for studying translation of HIV interventions into real-world clinical
and community settings, including in the context of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic; (2) Mentor trainees to
identify a specific area of HIV research that will allow them to establish a program of research that outlines
their content and methods expertise; (3) Prepare trainees with grantsmanship and leadership skills to
conceptualize, write, conduct, administer, and disseminate results for an extramural grant-funded study, and
(4) Conduct an evaluation of Program to determine process and outcome. This training program will be
delivered within the research-intensive academic setting of UCSF, with extensive opportunities for cross-
disciplinary collaboration with entities such as the AIDS Research Institute, the Center for AIDS Research, and
the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, along with clinical settings that include the original San Francisco
Model clinic Ward 86 at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. With a focus on nursing approaches to
prevention and care, this program will also build on over 20 years of the HIV/AIDS Nursing Care and
Prevention Training Program (T32NR07081), which produced many nurse scientists who have gone on to be
leaders in HIV nursing research in the
United States
and beyond. The “Next Generation Nurse Scientists
Ending the HIV Epidemic” program will include training opportunities for 4 predoctoral and 2 postdoctoral nurse
scholars each year. Our goal is to train the next generation of scientists in nursing research approaches to End
the HIV Epidemic.