Project Grant R01TW012893

This federal Project Grant award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director under the Trans-NIH Research Support program (CFDA 93.310) provides $186,319 to The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to adapt and test an intervention to reduce HIV-related stigma among pregnant and postpartum women in sub-Saharan Africa.

The key activities include: 1) Describing the stigma experiences and mental health impacts of women living with HIV during pregnancy and postpartum through longitudinal data collection and provider interviews; 2) Adapting an existing stigma reduction intervention (from Project ACCEPT) for the target population using community input; and 3) Evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of the adapted intervention through a pilot randomized controlled trial. The goal is to develop a culturally and gender-tailored peer-based intervention to address HIV-related stigma and improve HIV treatment engagement in this high-risk population. The project will also involve a sub-award to the Ghana-based Africa Interdisciplinary Research Institute to support protocol development, stakeholder engagement, and research implementation activities.