Uniting against HIV/AIDS

Rapid changes in treatment have transformed HIV from a terminal illness into a manageable chronic disease. At NYU Meyers, our research in HIV/AIDS care is keeping pace with these advances. As the HIV/AIDS population shifts and ages, our focus has also expanded to the comorbidities and subspecialty care that many patients require alongside HIV management.  

Our faculty work extensively on HIV/AIDS research, from NIH-funded projects on HIV testing and linkage to care for intravenous drug users in Vietnam. Several of our faculty were on the frontlines of nursing and new research at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City in the 1980s. They bring a wealth of knowledge and clear-eyed perspective into our classrooms and research labs.

We know there is still much work to be done for gay and bisexual men, transgender women, the economically disadvantaged, and minority youth, both nationally and globally. Similar to the early days of HIV/AIDS, the social and emotional support that nurses can provide continues to be essential to optimal care.

How is NYU Meyers helping to deliver ground-breaking HIV/AIDS research and care? Find out more below. 

Our Experts

Independence Foundation Prof. Joyce K. Anastasi is a leading clinical scientist in symptom management recognized for creative and unique research on the HIV/AIDS population, including NIH-funded research on acupuncture for managing chronic nausea. For 20 years, Senior Research Scientist Lloyd Goldsamt has conducted NIH-funded research and community-based evaluations with a primary focus on HIV and STI prevention among high-risk youth populations. 

Prof. Yzette Lanier is a developmental psychologist whose research broadly centers on health promotion and disease prevention — particularly preventing HIV/STI — in communities of color. With an award from the National Institute of Nursing Research, Prof. Ann-Margaret Dunn Navarra spent the last four years testing a technology-enabled adherence intervention to help African American and Latinx young people with HIV take their medications and stay in care.

Prof. S. Raquel Ramos researches how user-centered design and technology-related interventions can help inform decision-making in sexual minority men of color who are living with HIV or at risk of HIV. For more than three decades, Global Initiatives Director Ann Bartley Williams has worked as a nurse practitioner caring for persons with HIV/AIDS in the United States and abroad. She conducted some of the earliest studies of AIDS among drug users. 

Our Research

Generating new knowledge and demonstrating the highest standards of excellence in research and scholarship is a key component of our mission. Our faculty have expanded the scope and number of their local, national, and international research projects. As a result, we now rank 5th IN FUNDING FROM THE NIH.

Leveraging a virtual environment (LEARN) to enhance prevention of HIV-related comorbidities in at-risk minority MSM

This five-year, $809,000 award will support training and research on using a virtual environment to prevent HIV-related comorbidities in at-risk sexual minority men, who are at higher risk of developing comorbidities at an earlier life stage than those without HIV.

PI/Director: S Raquel Ramos

Funding source:  National Institutes of Health — National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 

Development of a couples-focused intervention to enhance uptake of evidenced combined HIV preventative methods for African American youth and their romantic partner

This four-year, $1.2 million award will support a tri-phasic study to develop an evidence-informed HIV behavioral intervention focused on Black heterosexually identified young couples.

PI/Director: Yzette Lanier

Funding source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Symptom science study seeks to develop deeper understanding of HIV-related neuropathic pain

This $3.5 million grant will study whether stimulating acupuncture points can help manage HIV-related distal neuropathic pain, which is one of the most debilitating neurological complications of HIV, affecting nearly one in three people living with HIV. 

PI/Director: Joyce Anastasi

Funding source: National Institutes of Health

Examination of Autonomy Support on PrEP Use in Black MSM: A Quantitative Analysis

This 18-month, $94,0000 grant will investigate whether perceived autonomy support and other C4 related factors are associated with PrEP use.

PI/Director: S Raquel Ramos

Funding source: HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN)

My passion to help young people take their HIV medicines and stay in care is fueled by my being a firsthand witness to what HIV looks like without effective treatments.

– Prof. Ann-Margaret Dunn Navarra

Challenges Remain