Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) awarded $1,250,162 to The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University) on May 6, 2026, under the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research program (CFDA 93.307). The award supports "Our Family, Our Voices" (OFOV), an efficacy trial of a community-driven, family-based intervention designed to optimize HIV prevention and care outcomes for Black sexual and gender minorities within House Ball Communities (HBC). The intervention leverages the HBC's hierarchical family structure to deliver a family-based retreat format that empowers members to advocate for their health, cultivate leadership skills, and improve clinical outcomes, with the research extending across three geographic areas including New York City.

The project addresses significant health disparities by targeting an estimated 8,000-member population concentrated in New York City with growing presence in the U.S. South. OFOV builds upon the evidence-based "Many Men, Many Voices" (3MV) intervention and is designed to increase HIV testing rates, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake, and HIV care engagement among Black and Latinx gay men who have sex with men and transwomen and transmen. The four-year project period extends through November 30, 2030, and aims to generate efficacy and scalability data for this historically understudied and underserved population experiencing overlapping hardships related to stigma and systemic barriers to HIV prevention and treatment services.