UCSF Prevention Research Center, 550 16th Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA (2025)

12/05/2025

https://youtu.be/XqNDYq-BefQ Getting Critical: Centering Racism in HIV and Other Health Equity Research. CAPS/PRC Town Hall, the CAPS Anti-Racism Working Group, and the CAPS VP Program present: Lisa Bowleg, Ph.D.

This talk will delve into what it means to center structural racism in research.

Planned topics of discussion include conceptual and theoretical issues, considering the racial frame that shapes most social and behavioral research, disciplinary limitations, why structural racism is avoided, some methodological issues, and ideas for a way forward. Dr. Bowleg’s presentation will be followed by Q & A.

Lisa Bowleg, Ph.D., is a Professor of Applied Social Psychology in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at The George Washington University (GW), and Director of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Core of the DC-Center for AIDS Research. She is also the Founding Director of the GW Institute for Intersectionality Equity Research and Policy, and President of the Intersectionality Training Institute, two new institutes that will launch in Fall 2021. She is a leading scholar of the application of intersectionality to social and behavioral science research, as well as research focused on HIV prevention and sexuality in Black communities.

Dr. Bowleg’s mixed-methods research focuses on (1) the effects of social-structural context, masculinity, and resilience on Black men’s sexual HIV risk and protective behaviors; and (2) intersectionality, stress, and resilience among Black le***an, gay, and bisexual people. She has served as a principal investigator of four NIH-funded R01 studies.

Tor Neilands, Ph.D., will introduce and chair the session.

12/05/2025

🌟 INSIGHTS Lecture Series: Innovative HIV Research in Non-Traditional Settings 🌟

Are you curious about groundbreaking ways to improve HIV care outside of clinics? Join us for the INSIGHTS Lecture Series by the CAPS Developmental Core! This series highlights innovative HIV research happening in non-traditional settings like pharmacies, mobile vans, patients' homes, and community spaces.

Discover how these approaches are making HIV prevention and treatment more accessible and effective—helping enhance PrEP and ART adherence without relying on clinic visits.

Watch the full playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEKyx7aLX1SSLtuRYLpUXFFvj-bVee-VE

Brought to you by the UCSF CFAR Boost Award.

12/03/2025

http://tiny.ucsf.edu/QTIag2 - Stay informed on the latest in Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Prevention with our research! Discover groundbreaking studies and connect directly with our investigators.

Dive in to learn more about the important work being done.

✅ We Are Family: Testing, Linkage, and Engagement in Care among African American Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Youth in the House Ball Community. Investigators: Emily Arnold (PI), Parya Saberi, Susan Kegeles, Torsten Neilands, Lance Pollack, Michael Benjamin (CAL-PEP), Gloria Lockett (CA -PEP).

✅ The Bruthas Project: Sexual Health Promotion Counseling Sessions. Investigators: Emily Arnold (Academic PI), Gloria Lockett (Community PI), Susan Kegeles, Don Operario (Brown University), Tor Neilands, Lance Pollack, and Stephanie Cornwell (CAL-PEP).

✅ The LetSync Project: Creating a mHealth Tool for Enhancing HIV Care Engagement in the Dyadic Context. Investigators: Judy Tan (PI), Tor Neilands, Susan Kegeles, Parya Saberi, Emily Arnold.

✅ The PACE Study: Pacing Alcohol Consumption Experiment for Gay Bar Patrons in San Francisco and Oakland, CA. Investigators: Edwin Charlebois (PI), Albert Plenty, Jessica Lin, Alicia Ayala, Jennifer Hecht (San Francisco AIDS Foundation).

✅ DuoPACT: A couples-based approach to improving engagement in HIV care. Investigators: Mallory Johnson (PI); Monica Gandhi, Tor Neilands, Kimberly Koester, Kristi Gamarel.

✅ DuoPACT Stigma Paper. A Mixed-Methods Study of Relationship Stigma and Well-Being Among Sexual and Gender Minority Couples. Investigators: Kristi Gamarel, Willi Farrales, Luz Venegas, Samathan Dilworth, Lara Coffin, Tor Neilands, Mallory Johnson, Kimberly Koester.

✅ Couples-Focused Intervention to Improve Engagement in HIV Care: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. Investigators: Alyssa Tabrisky, Laura Coffin, David Olem, Tor Neilands, Mallory Johnson.

✅ Texas PrEP Intervention Study. Investigators: Susan Kegeles & Greg Rebchook (P*s), Robert Williams, Scott Tebbetts, Andres Maiorana.

✅ Multilevel HIV Prevention Intervention with MSM in Peru. Investigators: Susan Kegeles, Andre Maiorana, Carlos Caceres (Cayetano Heredia Universityo, Perú).

✅ Chetana-PN: Adapting an Effective Intervention for Enhancing Engagement in HIV Care to Meet the Needs of Key Populations in India. Investigators: Maria Ekstrand, (PI-UCSF), Wayne Steward (PI-UCSF), Dr. Venkatesan Chakrapani (Co-I, Humsafar Trust), Alpana Dange (Co-I, Humsafar Trust), Shruta Rawat (Site PI, Humsafar Trust), Dr. Krishnamachari Srinivasan (Consultant)

We've got updates on our HIV bio-behavioral research that you won't want to miss out on. Sign up for our quarterly CAPS/PRC e-newsletter - https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/NUtGask

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12/03/2025

Stronger Together: Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) for HIV Prevention & Care at UCSF CAPS!

Our CBA program is designed to support organizations, health departments, and community groups working in HIV prevention and care. ��We provide individualized training, consultation, and skills building to help strengthen programs, improve services, and make a bigger impact in communities.

Who is this for?
📍Health department jurisdictions
📍Community-based organizations
📍HIV service providers
📍Anyone working to improve health outcomes in their community

What do we offer?
✓ Individualized training
✓ Consultation
✓ Demonstration
✓ Skills building
✓ Information sharing
✓ Resource development and sharing (e.g. webinars, summits, and institutes)
✓ Communities of Practice to facilitate opportunities for reciprocal learning among peers.

How to Access Services �CDC-sponsored CBA services: Submit a request through the CBA Tracking System:�https://wwwn.cdc.gov/CTS/CTSMVC/Account/Login�Other Assistance: Submit a request at �https://prevention.ucsf.edu/contact

12/01/2025

The Power of Connection in Medicine.

When it comes to improving health, the value of human connection is often overlooked. Programs like Curry’s Peer Program are changing that – not with big budgets, but with heart.

UCSF researchers found that the program works because of its informal, agenda-free approach. Clients see their peers as friends, not professionals “talking down to them.” This trust helps clients build confidence and feel genuinely cared for – something they often don’t experience in traditional health care settings.

Surprisingly, most clients in the program already had doctors and therapists. What they lacked wasn’t medical care – it was social connection. Unfortunately, many health care providers don’t ask about loneliness or isolation, even though studies show patients are open to talking about it.

Dr. Ashwin Kotwal and other UCSF experts highlight the growing need for social prescribing – connecting patients with community resources like peer programs, support groups, or even volunteering opportunities. One example: a woman in her 90s, struggling with loneliness, found a new sense of purpose after volunteering for the Friendship Line. With that connection, her outlook on life completely changed.

These programs might not have the flash of high-tech solutions, but they’re making a *real* difference in people’s lives.

Let’s start recognizing the power of human connection as good medicine.

Read more about DPS/CAPS/PRC work on loneliness and isolation here: https://magazine.ucsf.edu/prescription-loneliness

Social Connections and Aging Lab - https://socialconnectionsandaging.ucsf.edu/

12/01/2025

http://tiny.ucsf.edu/26RHqS - Now accepting applications for Summer 2026 CAPS Visiting Professors. Apply Now for Research Training at UCSF! The Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, in collaboration with the UCSF-Bay Area Center for AIDS Research, is now accepting applications for the Visiting Professor Program.

We’re planning an in-person program in SF from 6/8 - 7/16/26. This program supports investigators conducting HIV-related research with implications for U.S.-based communities, helping to strengthen their teams and secure research programs NIH funding.

The application deadline is January 21, 2026, at 8:00 am PT; however, sign up by December 15 for a required informational call if you are interested in applying. Participants attend the six-week summer institute at UCSF for three consecutive summers, with mentoring and distance learning year-round.

The in-person format of the summer program provides the ideal environment for offering mutual support and building trust, enabling the VPs to give and receive feedback in a safe and supportive space.

For more information, visit our website prevention.ucsf.edu/vp

11/26/2025

https://tiny.ucsf.edu/KjQ4xx - Introducing UPLIFTS.��UPLIFTS is a collaborative effort between the UCSF Division of Prevention Science (DPS) and the Alliance Health Project, designed to enhance the ability of Community Health Centers to serve LGBTQ+ communities more effectively.

UPLIFTS is here to help Community Health Centers better serve LGBTQ+ communities—because inclusive care saves lives.

UPLIFTS helps Community Health Centers provide inclusive, culturally competent LGBTQ+ care through training, technical assistance.

📍 Who We Are:�A collaboration between UCSF’s Division of Prevention Science & the Alliance Health Project.�

💡 Let’s Build Inclusive Healthcare Together!�

Visit - https://tiny.ucsf.edu/KjQ4xx
📩 E-mail: caps.web@ucsf.edu

11/24/2025

https://y2tec.ucsf.edu/ - Y2TEC is a tech-based mental health intervention designed for youth living with HIV. Developed by researchers at CAPS/PRC UCSF, Y2TEC uses weekly video counseling and text messaging to support young adults (18-29) with mental health, substance use, and staying engaged in HIV care. 💬

Ready to improve outcomes at your organization? Plan and implement the Y2TEC program to scale up care and support for those who need it most.

Learn more about how Y2TEC can make a difference today. https://y2tec.ucsf.edu/

11/24/2025

https://youtu.be/DlIqdiCCppU - WEBINAR. Criteria for Evaluating and Justifying Qualitative Research Methods in the Health Sciences. 'Big tent’ criteria for evaluating and justifying qualitative research methods in health sciences manuscripts and grant applications.

Quantitatively trained researchers are often asked to evaluate qualitative proposals and manuscripts without necessarily having the tools to do so, and many qualitatively trained researchers could better communicate the rigor of their methods to reviewers with peer-reviewed criteria. Therefore, having a shared ‘toolbox’ of criteria to draw from benefits, everyone.

In the first hour, the lecture is on published criteria for rigorous qualitative research.

Presenters. Kim Koester, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), UCSF Prevention Science.

11/21/2025

https://youtu.be/oE5s5vMUEyI - Controversies and Unresolved Issues in the Design of Randomized Controlled Trials Testing Clinical/Behavioral Interventions. feat Steve Gregorich, PhD

11/21/2025

TOWNHALL. https://youtu.be/cER1oAX1Dlc - Approaching HIV Health Disparities and HIV Cure Research through Health, Clinical and Quantitative Psychology Methods feat. John Sauceda Ph.D.

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Dr. Sauceda presents his research blending principles and methods from health, clinical, and quantitative psychology to understand, measure, and intervene on factors impacting HIV care and treatment outcomes and health disparities among Latinx populations. He will present on an ongoing and planned clinical trial using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) for Latinx PLWH with depression. He will then present how these same principles and methods are applied to his second line of research on unresolved challenges in HIV cure research, such as promoting consent understanding, measuring the psychological experiences of participants going through greater-than-minimal risk HIV cure trials, and understanding the perspectives, priorities, and concerns of people living with HIV who may be interested in participating in HIV cure research.

John Sauceda, Ph.D., MSc, is a health psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Division of Prevention Science, Co-Director of the UCSF CFAR Mentoring Program, and MPI of the NIDA-funded Summer HIV/AIDS Research Program - a mentored training program for aspiring researchers. He has two distinct lines of research focused on HIV care and treatment disparities among Latinx PLWH and the social and ethical issues in HIV cure research. He received an NIMH K01 to design an adaptive intervention for Latinx PLWH with depression who receive HIV care at the Ward 86 HIV clinic. Currently, he is MPI of a NIDA R01 to conduct an optimization trial to support people who inject drugs in achieving viral suppression on the U.S.-Mexico Border.

11/19/2025

http://tiny.ucsf.edu/26RHqS - Now accepting applications for Summer 2026 CAPS Visiting Professors. Apply Now for Research Training at UCSF! The Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, in collaboration with the UCSF-Bay Area Center for AIDS Research, is now accepting applications for the Visiting Professor Program.

We’re planning an in-person program in SF from 6/8 - 7/16/26. This program supports investigators conducting HIV-related research with implications for U.S.-based communities, helping to strengthen their teams and secure research programs NIH funding.

The application deadline is January 21, 2026, at 8:00 am PT; however, sign up by December 15 for a required informational call if you are interested in applying. Participants attend the six-week summer institute at UCSF for three consecutive summers, with mentoring and distance learning year-round.

The in-person format of the summer program provides the ideal environment for offering mutual support and building trust, enabling the VPs to give and recieve feedback in a safe and supportive space.

For more information, visit our website prevention.ucsf.edu/vp

UCSF Prevention Research Center

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