# Linking High-Risk Jail Detainees to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: PrEP-LINK

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS · 2021 · $310,291

## Abstract

Abstract 
Criminal justice (CJ) involved individuals have extremely high prevalence of risk factors associated with HIV 
infection including poverty, substance use, transactional sex, high numbers of sex partners, high prevalence of 
sexually transmitted infections and mental illness. African Americans (AA) are at disproportionate risk for both 
incarceration and HIV infections. A growing body of evidence highlights the efficacy of a once daily medication, 
emtricitabine/tenofovir, also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), in reducing HIV acquisition. However, 
structural and social barriers can undermine optimal PrEP uptake, adherence, and retention in care and must 
be addressed especially among those with recent CJ experience. Our proposed study is directly aligned with 
NIMHD Science Visioning to advance intervention approaches to improve minority health or to reduce health 
disparities. Our proposed study will: provide a novel exploration of facilitators and barriers to PrEP; allow us to 
target hard to reach populations, including MSM and substance users (both of which are top funding priority 
groups for the National Institutes of Health) who experience intersecting markers of HIV risk; and inform 
regional, and possibly national, intervention approaches to combat the overlapping epidemic of HIV and 
incarceration: The specific aims of the project are: Aim 1: Perform a qualitative assessment of facilitators 
and barriers to PrEP uptake among high-risk jail detainees, systems and interactor levels; Aim 2: 
Develop the PrEP-LINK intervention and perform an open label evaluation with high-risk individuals 
being discharged from the Pulaski County Jail; Aim 3: Conduct a pilot RCT of the PrEP-LINK 
intervention among high-risk men being released from the Pulaski County Jail. Results will inform a 
subsequent multi-site RCT to test efficacy of the intervention in improving PrEP uptake, adherence, and 
retention in care among men with CJ-experience.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10147767
- **Project number:** 5U54MD002329-15
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Nickolas D Zaller
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $310,291
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2007-09-30 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10147767

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10147767, Linking High-Risk Jail Detainees to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: PrEP-LINK (5U54MD002329-15). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10147767. Licensed CC0.

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