The Grant is a Collaboration of New York University, University of Nairobi, and Impact-RDO
 October 28, 2011 - New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) received a four-year, $ 2.8M grant
from the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID) to research
a study "Combination HIV Prevention for Kenyan Youth." The grant brings together is a
collaboration between NYUCN, the University of Nairobi, and Impact-RDO, a nongovernmental organization in
western Kenya. Principal Investigator Ann Kurth notes that HIV prevalence in
sub-Saharan Africa is highest of any global region and many infections occur among youth ages 15-24 years.
"Comprehensive HIV prevention in high-burden sub-Saharan African settings must address both HIV and
pregnancy among young females, and HIV prevention strategies among males, using evidence-based approaches in
combination," said NYUCN Professor Ann Kurth, PhD, CNM, RN. "Settings such as Nyanza Province,
western Kenya where there is high HIV prevalence, high fertility rates, early onset of sex, frequent
intergenerational sex and low circumcision prevalence are a high priority for developing and
evaluating multi-component HIV prevention with a focus on young men and women in order to
have a large population impact," she said. "In our qualitative work with the community,
addressing HIV prevention for youth is something that the adults stress is of highest priority."
The grant's co-PI is Dr. Irene Inwani, pediatrician at the University of Nairobi.
Kurth's team of biobehavioral and clinical scientists, mathematical modelers, and trial design specialists
will look to accomplish the following goals of the grant:
Aim 1: Identify gender(sex)-specific drivers of HIV acquisition risk, including pregnancy among females,
for youth in sub-Saharan Africa, and interventions to best address those risks;
Aim 2: Conduct mathematical modeling to select optimal combination intervention package components and
to assess potential population-level impact;
Aim 3: In partnership with Impact RDO a highly-productive nongovernmental organization (NGO ) that is
delivering PEPFAR-funded HIV prevention services, develop and pilot a combination HIV prevention package specific for
female and for male youth - 'MP3-Youth' - in Migori district, Nyanza Province. The team will deliver the
MP3-Youth package using community-based mobile health teams with the NGO. All youth attending the mobile
health events will complete an audio computer-assisted self-interview survey. A randomly-selected subset
of n=200 youth will be followed longitudinally at 6- and 12-months using cell phone text message surveys
to prospectively assess prevention method uptake, adherence, and risk compensation behaviors.
Aim 4: Design a phase IV study protocol for testing the effectiveness of a gender-specific youth HIV prevention
package in sub-Saharan Africa.
"We will disseminate these research protocol recommendations, and study instruments including the mathematical
modeling tool, as a combination prevention intervention research toolkit that others can freely use," said Kurth."The MP3-Youth study will provide critical information for design and evaluation of combination HIV prevention
intervention packages that are sensitive to gender-specific risks among this most-at-risk population in high-HIV
burden African settings," she said.
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About the New York University College of Nursing
NYU College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing; Master of Arts and Post-Master's Certificate Programs; a Doctor of Philosophy in Research Theory and Development, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. For more information, visit www.nyu.edu/nursing . Dr. Marya Gwadz can be contacted at mg2890@nyu.edu .
Press Contact:
Christopher James
(212) 998-6876
Source: New York University
http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2011/10/28/nyucn-receives-28m-nihniaid-grant-to-study-combination-hiv-prevention-for-kenyan-youth.html
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