Each of the NIH-funded HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Networks select one representative to serve on the BSCG. Learn more about each representative's areas of expertise below.
Dr. Amico has actively contributed to the development and implementation of health promoting interventions for over a decade, with specific emphasis on HIV treatment and engagement in care and HIV prevention. In these areas, Dr. Amico has interest and experience in measurement, methodology, design, and analytic strategies used to characterize the influence of social and contextual variables on decision making and behavior. She has collaborated with a number of teams working within and outside of research networks to enhance delivery of adherence support and HIV prevention counseling, promote engagement in HIV care, and strengthen existing site- and team-level capacities to implement best counseling/engagement practices while maintaining fidelity to rigorous research protocols.
Areas of behavioral and social science expertise include:
Dr. Michele Andrasik works to address psychosocial and structural factors associated with HIV risk and STI disparities among marginalized communities in the US. Dr. Andrasik has a doctoral degree in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Miami and is an expert in Community-Based Participatory Research and Qualitative methods. She is also Core Faculty in the Fred Hutch/UW Center for AIDS Research Socio-behavioral Prevention Research Core.
Areas of behavioral and social science expertise include:
Dr. del Rio's research interests are on early diagnosis, access to care, adherence with antiretrovirals and combination prevention of HIV infection. He has worked for over a decade in hospitals and clinics with hard-to-reach populations including substance abuse users to improve outcomes of those infected with HIV and to prevent infection with those at risk. He is also interested in the translation of research findings into practice and policy. Dr. del Rio is also a practicing HIV clinician at a busy inner-city clinic.
Areas of behavioral and social science expertise include:
Dr. Steven Safren is engaged in a variety of studies related to behavioral aspects of HIV prevention and treatment both domestically and internationally. He was one of the lead behavioral scientists in several network studies, particularly at their inception phase, including ACTG5175, HPTN052, and is protocol chair of HPTN063. Dr. Safren has successfully designed and tested key evidenced-based adherence interventions both for HIV ART, as well as PrEP (i.e. in the Gates-Funded ancillary adherence study Partners in Prevention; and two U.S. domestic studies with MSM).
Areas of behavioral and social science expertise include:
Dr. van der Straten is an expert in female-initiated HIV-prevention methods. Her research focuses on acceptability and adherence to new biomedical HIV-prevention methods and multipurpose technologies for contraception and HIV prevention. She has led or participated in the development and implementation of major research projects in Africa and the U.S., including clinical trials of diaphragm and gel, oral, and vagina Tenofovir based pre-exposure prophylaxis and vaginal rings. Dr. van der Straten has also led several end user acceptability research studies and adherence-related issues in the context of prevention trials.
Currently, she is working on a large multidisciplinary program to develop a biodegradable implant system for HIV-prevention and a multipurpose implant for HIV and contraception.
Areas of expertise:
External advisors to the BSCG provide outside, expert opinion to the NIH-funded HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Networks on the behavioral components of their research agenda and studies.
Dr. Wilson’s research interests are in structural elements of health care delivery systems, and how these structural elements affect patients' experience of their care, physician-patient interactions, patients' health outcomes, and healthcare quality. He is particularly interested in methodological aspects of adherence measurement in chronic conditions, including HIV care, and in interventions to improve the quality of prescription medication management, and has several active NIH grants and a PCORI grant in this area. Dr. Wilson is co-chair of the BSCG, and also a practicing primary care physician who has been active in numerous practice-based quality improvement efforts.
Areas of behavioral and social science expertise include:
Dr. Simoni's research has focused on behavioral aspects of HIV treatment. She has written several reviews and empirical reports of ART adherence theory, methods, and related interventions. She has had NIMH-funded adherence-promotion studies in NYC, Seattle, the U.S.-Mexico border, and China, emphasizing peer support, technologically based reminders, and nurse counseling.
Areas of behavioral and social science expertise include:
Dr. Johnson's primary appointment is in the School of Medicine and holds joint appointments in the School of Pharmacy and the School of Nursing. He is a licensed clinical health psychologist with a research career focused on understanding, measuring, and improving the health of persons at risk for or living with chronic diseases such as HIV. He is also Co-Director of the NIMH-funded Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) and is active in mentoring and training of early career investigators interested in HIV-related research from multiple disciplines.
Areas of behavioral and social science expertise include:
Dr. Haberer's research focuses on wireless adherence monitoring and intervention for developing settings, addressing both treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV infection. Her current projects are based in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa.
Areas of behavioral and social science expertise include: