Federal Grant Award Summary

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received a $1.177M Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) effective March 17, 2026, through March 16, 2029. The award funds the "Leveraging Inpatient Records to Characterize the HIV Care Continuum in North Carolina (LINC-NC)" initiative, which integrates complementary data sources to examine individual-, hospital-, community-, and policy-level determinants affecting post-discharge HIV care engagement among hospitalized persons with HIV (PWH). The research combines electronic health records from three major North Carolina health systems with statewide HIV surveillance data (2018-2024), encompassing 34 hospitals that serve approximately 80% of hospitalized PWH in the state. Using privacy-preserving data matching techniques that do not require sharing sensitive identifying information, the study characterizes the full HIV care continuum and barriers to outpatient care linkage following hospital discharge.

The project delivers research products and services addressing a critical gap in understanding post-discharge HIV care engagement, with qualitative data collection from key informants including PWH, healthcare providers, administrators, and community-based organization staff. Study findings will inform sampling strategies for qualitative investigation and identify intervention points to improve linkage to outpatient HIV care—an objective aligned with the National Institute of Mental Health's mission to advance mental health treatment and prevention research. The three-year initiative leverages established academic-public health partnerships in North Carolina with a demonstrated track record of translating surveillance data into public health interventions that improve care outcomes and reduce transmission risk.