Prevention and Treatment Research to Address HIV/AIDS Disparities in Women in the United States (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Program Description

NIMHD is leading an initiative to understand and reduce racial/ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic HIV disparities in U.S. women through health services, intervention, and implementation research. Projects may address HIV prevention, screening and diagnosis, and/or treatment with primary data collection and/or secondary analysis of existing data.

Women account for one quarter of people living with HIV in the United States, and over three-quarters of these women are African American and Latina. African American women have the highest rate of new HIV infection, which is 16 times higher than for non-Hispanic White women. Women across racial/ethnic groups who live in poverty and in the Southern U.S. are also at higher risk. Other predictors of HIV infection among women include gender roles, relationship power dynamics, cultural and religious beliefs, stigma, mental health and substance use problems, trauma exposure, intimate partner violence, and lack of access to HIV-related services and healthcare. Compared to men, women are less likely to receive HIV prevention and treatment, and about half of African American women receive HIV care within 90 days diagnosis.

Much of the existing HIV research in the U.S. focuses on men, and more studies are needed to understand the interpersonal, cultural, financial, and structural factors that place women at high risk. Areas of specific interest include strategies to encourage routine HIV testing and continue HIV care among women, as well as other HIV prevention and treatment programs. Addressing these multi-level factors may help to reduce disparities in HIV infection and mortality among U.S. women.

NIH Guide No.: RFA-MD-18-004

View the list of grantees in NIH RePORTER.