Edward Alessi
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Public Health & Epidemiology
Latino/x sexual minority men (SMM), men who are gay, bisexual, or have sex with men, make up a small share of the U.S. population.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Social Science
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
HIV prevention
pre-exposure prophylaxis
PrEP
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jan 2027
What they work on
- Identify structural, community, interpersonal, and individual factors linked to sexual risk, HIV testing, and PrEP (HIV-preventing medication) use among 300 Latino/x sexual minority migrant men, using an online survey recruited through dating apps.
- Derive subgroups of Latino/x sexual minority migrants by social integration, such as immigration status, language use, and healthcare access, using latent class analysis, and test whether integration changes links to HIV prevention behaviors.
- Examine how Latino/x sexual minority migrant men make decisions about sexual risk, HIV testing, and PrEP, including facilitators and barriers, through in-depth qualitative interviews with 30 participants.
More about the research
Yet they account for a majority of new HIV infections. Migrants within this group are the largest segment of foreign-born sexual minorities in the country. Many move for economic opportunity or to escape violence, and they face very high HIV infection rates after migrating. Little is known about how their surroundings shape that risk. Those surroundings range from immigration policy and community to relationships and personal factors.
Why it matters
Latino/x sexual minority migrant men face very high HIV risk and gaps in PrEP use. Pinpointing the community, policy, and personal factors that raise risk or block testing and PrEP could guide prevention programs for this group. The findings are intended to inform a future multi-level intervention promoting PrEP among Latino/x sexual minority migrants.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Ronnie Gravett
University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Explore preferences for PrEP messaging content among men who have sex with men in the Deep South through qualitative interviews informed by Andersen's Behavioral Model of healthcare utilization.
Lisa Eaton
University of Connecticut, CT·Public Health & Epidemiology
Enroll 500 HIV-negative Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) who test positive for substance use, and give evidence-based counseling to help them access PrEP, a daily HIV-prevention medicine.
Kiyomi Tsuyuki
University of California-San Diego, CA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of CHAMPION, which combines the PrEPAPP app with CBT4CBT computer-based cognitive behavioral therapy, among 100 HIV-negative meth-using MSM, measured by retention and engagement against a waitlist control.
The school
Rutgers University-New Brunswick: 57 labs on PI Pages, $837M a year on research, 713 research doctorates a year.
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