Current AHP Research Studies

Late Testers Study

Investigators: Sandra Schwarcz, MD, MPH and James W. Dilley, MD
"Late testers" is a term defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as those who receive an AIDS diagnosis within 12 months of learning they were infected with HIV. Such persons may be unknowingly transmitting the virus for years and, once diagnosed, tend to have worse outcomes and greater medical expenses. The purpose of this study is to learn more about how and why these men and women delayed their opportunity for HIV testing. Study participants will be interviewed about their knowledge of and attitudes towards HIV testing and their general knowledge of and attitudes towards HIV and AIDS. This information will then be used to reduce barriers to HIV testing and improve HIV prevention services.

(Supported in part by a grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc., 2007))

Replicating Effective Behavioral Interventions

Investigators: Allen and Loeb Associates and James W. Dilley, MD
This tranlational research grant from the CDC supports the creation of a full range of training materials in designed to take AHP's successful counseling intervention, known as Personalized Cognitive Counseling, and giving programs "everything they need" to learn and implement the counseling intervention in their program. In the second year of the project, we will work with two counseling and testing programs who want to implement the intervention, train them using the materials developed to conduct the intervention in their clinical site and ask them to evaluate the training and the materials developed. (Supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007)

“Red Plus” Study

Investigators: James W. Dilley, MD; Sandy Schwarcz, MD, MPH;

and Jay Paul, PhD
As providers of health care services for HIV-positive men in San Francisco, AHP clinicians often engage with clients who have unprotected sex with partners of a different HIV status or partners whose serostatus is unknown. These men may express a desire to decrease their frequency of unprotected sex. However, there are currently no proven behavioral interventions for us to offer these men.

To address this, AHP developed a brief cognitive-behavioral intervention. The “red” intervention focuses on the thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs that HIV-positive men who have sex with men employ when they decide to have unprotected sex with a partner of a different or unknown HIV status. (“Red” is not an abbreviation; it is simply the common name used to distinguish this study from others.)

The intervention is brief (about an hour) and is conducted by licensed clinicians at AHP. Most importantly, this intervention has already been shown to be effective when used with HIV-negative men. To see results of these studies, go to our descriptions of Past Research Studies and Publications or see the published journal article: Dilley JW, Woods WJ, Sabatino J, et al. Changing sexual behavior among gay male repeat testers for HIV: A randomized, controlled trial of a single-session intervention. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 2002; 30(2): 177-186.

For more information, or to find out if you are eligible for the Red Plus study, please contact the AHP Research Team at 415-502-8500 or red@ucsf.edu.

(Supported by NIH Grant 5R01MH073425-03; 2004)

PositiveQuit Study

Investigator: Gary Humfleet, PhD
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco are recruiting HIV-positive smokers to participate in a smoking treatment program. The study includes medication and counseling and is being conducted at the AIDS Health Project. Participants can be reimbursed up to $125.00 for participation in the study.

For more information, call 415-502-8437.

(Funded by the NIDA funded Treatment Research Unit at UCSF, 2004)