
MAMAS: Mentoring Adolescent Mothers at School
Human Immunodeficiency VirusHerpes Simplex Type II3 moreThis study aims to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention designed to reduce STI/HIV incidence by increasing the number of adolescent mothers who re-enroll and remain in school. The objective of the intervention is to have older mentor mothers, who themselves were pregnant adolescents, to mentor younger adolescent mothers. Mentor mothers will provide ongoing psychosocial support, help navigate re-admission to school, and help facilitate access to an existing State-sponsored cash transfer, the child support grant (CSG), in the early postpartum period. Our combination social protection program will enhance resilience of young adolescent mothers to facilitate their return to school and thereby reduce HIV risk. The investigators will evaluate the efficacy of the intervention using a pre-test post-test randomized controlled trial design. Participants in the intervention will receive the Mentoring Adolescent Mothers At School (MAMAS) intervention and standard postpartum care. Those in the control arm will receive standard postpartum care. Additionally, for those participants randomized to the intervention arm, mentor mothers will use participatory visual methods (e.g., photovoice, cell-films, drawings) as part of the intervention itself. Last, among those participants randomized to the intervention arm and who return for their 9-month assessment, the investigators will conduct 20 in-depth interviews to understand the process of resilience development from their perspective. Primary outcomes: School outcomes (initial outcomes) HYP 1.1: Program participation will increase school enrollment HYP 1.2: Program participation will increase school engagement HIV risk outcomes (intermediate outcomes) HYP 2.1: Program participation will reduce number of sexual partners HYP 2.2: Program participation will reduce inconsistent condom use HYP 2.3: Program participation will reduce intimate partner violence HYP 2.4: Program participation will decrease HIV/STI infection HYP 2.5 (for HIV+): Program participation will increase retention in care Secondary outcomes: HYP 5: Program participation will increase peer support HYP 6: Program participation will increase familial support HYP 7: Program participation will increase school re-admission HYP 8: Program participation will increase application to the child support grant HYP 9: Program participation will increase receipt of the child support grant

Vaginal Practices in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Positive Women in Zambia, a Bio-Behavioral...
VaginosisBacterialIntravaginal practices (IVP) (cleansing or introducing products inside the vagina for hygiene, health or to please sexual partners) are common among women with HIV. IVP increase the risk of developing bacterial Vaginosis (BV), the most common genital infection associated with transmission of sexually transmitted infections and HIV. This study tested a pilot intervention to reduce IVP and BV in HIV infected women in Zambia. A total of 128 HIV infected women engaging in IVP were randomized to two conditions: enhanced standard of care (n = 70) and experimental (n = 58). All participants received a brief educational counseling session on discontinuation of IVP, and those with BV, were provided with medical treatment for BV. Women in the experimental condition received an additional group-based, culturally tailored intervention. Participants completed questionnaires assessing sexual risk factors and IVP and were assessed for BV using Nugent criteria at baseline, 6 months and 12 months.

Evaluating the Safety and Immunogenicity of an HIV-1 gp41 MPER-656 Liposome Vaccine in Healthy,...
HIV InfectionsThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of an HIV-1 gp41 MPER-656 liposome vaccine in healthy, HIV-uninfected adults.

Retention in PrEP Care for African American MSM in Mississippi
Preventive MedicineHIV InfectionsInnovative and novel HIV prevention interventions are urgently needed for African American (AA) young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in the South, and in Mississippi in particular. HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a newer HIV prevention strategy that consists of a daily oral antiretroviral pill taken on an ongoing basis by HIV-uninfected but at-risk individuals. Although acceptability studies have demonstrated high interested in PrEP in the US, uptake remains limited. To date, studies of PrEP initiation have largely been limited to settings in which PrEP is provided free of charge. Barriers to PrEP initiation and retention in PrEP care in real world settings are likely more complex, since payment for PrEP can be a substantial financial burden. The ADAPT_ITT approach (an approach to adapting behavioral interventions to new populations: Assessment, Decision, Administration, Production, Topical Experts - Integration, Training, Testing) will be used to develop and pilot test a RAMP (Retain African American Men in PrEP) intervention that aims to promote PrEP adherence and retention in care in Jackson, MS and focuses on recruiting AA YMSM in a city with some of the highest HIV infection rates in the country. This study will include formative research to understand the cultural and social contexts that influence AA YMSM's PrEP use patterns and the acceptability of our proposed intervention. Results from these qualitative interviews will inform the study intervention which will be tested and refined in a dynamic open pilot evaluation.

Safety and Immunogenicity of pDNA Vaccines Expressing HIV M Group p24^Gag Conserved Elements and/or...
HIV InfectionsThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of two HIV-1 pDNA vaccines: p24CE1/2 pDNA and p55^gag pDNA administered with IL-12 pDNA adjuvant, given by intramuscular (IM) injection with electroporation (EP), in healthy, HIV-uninfected adults.

Translation of Basic Research in Cognitive Science to HIV Risk
HIV/AIDSA randomized trial was conducted at drug diversion educational programs with a sample of 343 adult drug offenders who volunteered for the study. The trial tested three different interventions on HIV testing and condom use, with a 3 month follow-up. The study translated consistent basic research showing strong effects of memory practice on memory for new material. One of the conditions involved extensive memory practice of action plans involving HIV testing and condom use. Other conditions varied two active control interventions. Results showed that the memory practice condition led to a substantially larger odds of HIV testing than did the two control conditions. Condom use was also significantly more frequent in the memory practice condition than in one of the control conditions but was not significantly different from the second control condition.

Piloting At-birth Point of Care HIV Testing Strategies in Kenya
HIV InfectionsInnovative strategies to expedite HIV diagnosis among exposed infants, including at-birth testing and two portable point-of-care (POC) diagnostic systems, will be piloted using an implementation framework. The programmatic impact of these tools on early infant diagnosis (EID) will be measured in comparison with parallel standard of care (SOC) HIV DNA PCR testing initiated at 6 weeks of age.

Trial to Assess the Continued Safety of and Adherence to a Vaginal Ring Containing Dapivirine in...
Human Immunodeficiency VirusHIV Open-label Prevention Extension (HOPE).

Safety and Pharmacokinetic Trial in Healthy HIV-Negative Women to Assess the Delivery of Dapivirine...
HIV InfectionsThe proposed study is a single center, double-blind placebo-controlled trial to assess the safety and tolerability of the dapivirine ring as compared to a placebo ring when inserted for 28 days in 16 healthy, HIV-negative women.

Partners Demonstration Project of PrEP and ART
HIV InfectionThe purpose of this protocol is to determine user preferences for antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-1 infected partners and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) HIV-1 un-infected partners and to optimize targeted delivery and sustained use of these interventions.