# The RCMI Program in Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College

> **NIH NIH U54** · MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE · 2021 · $318,250

## Abstract

Project Summary
HIV Awareness, Testing, Prevention, and Treatment Targeting Vulnerable Minority Communities in
Shelby County Tennessee
The Memphis/Shelby County metropolitan region in the state of Tennessee (TN) is disproportionately affected
by HIV/AIDS. The TN Department of Health reported in 2017 that the highest rate of people newly diagnosed
with HIV in the state was in Memphis/Shelby County at a rate of 25.7 per 100,000 persons. In 2017, Shelby
County also had the highest rate of people living with HIV (PLWH) at a rate 690.2 per 100,000 persons. In
2019, the CDC reported that the highest rate of people living with HIV in the state of TN was in
Memphis/Shelby County at a rate of 690 per 100,000 persons. That compares to just 93 per 100,000 persons
in the Nashville, TN and 280 per 100,000 nationwide. Memphis, TN ranks 4th among all metropolitan statistical
areas in new HIV infections and was identified in the CDC's Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative as a high HIV
burden geographic focus area. Strategies to reduce HIV infection among vulnerable minority populations in
Memphis/Shelby County represents an urgent unmet public health need. To curtail the rate of new infections
in the Memphis/Shelby County metropolitan area, Meharry will develop an innovative comprehensive plan to
improve HIV awareness, prevention, testing, and treatment targeting at risk minority communities. We will
partner with the Friends For Life (FFL) Corporation, federally qualified health centers, and local community-
based organizations (CBOs) to improve HIV/AIDS awareness, testing, prevention, and treatment targeting at-
risk minority populations. The HIV/AIDS awareness effort in Memphis/Shelby County will involve engagement
with at risk populations by focus groups, virtual presentations, Facebook live sessions, Instagram and flyers.
HIV testing is critical component to reducing the number of new HIV infections therefore we will promote a
strategy of testing at risk population in non-traditional venues including nightclubs, salons, barbershops,
grocery stores, and places of worship to combat stigma associated with HIV testing. The HIV prevention
component will incorporate HIV PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) navigation and intervention strategies used to
improve PrEP uptake via education, linkage, and follow-up engagement via flyers, social media, radio, and a
special PrEP podcast to increase PrEP uptake among minority MSM and transgender populations. For the
individuals that test positive HIV we will have Facebook live sessions with infectious disease medical providers
and experienced HIV/AIDS navigators that promote drug treatment adherence, benefits of linkage to care, and
lifetime wellness strategies. Findings from the proposed study will provide a foundation for the scale-up of HIV
awareness, testing, treatment and PrEP navigation implementations to reduce HIV infection rates statewide.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10486305
- **Project number:** 3U54MD007586-35S4
- **Recipient organization:** MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Samuel Evans Adunyah
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $318,250
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1997-09-30 → 2022-09-20

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10486305

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10486305, The RCMI Program in Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College (3U54MD007586-35S4). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10486305. Licensed CC0.

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