# LEveraging A viRtual eNvironment (LEARN) to Enhance Prevention of HIV-related Comorbidities in at-risk Minority MSM

> **NIH NIH K01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $138,569

## Abstract

LEveraging A viRtual eNvironment (LEARN) to Enhance Prevention of HIV-related Comorbidities
 in at-risk Minority MSM
Project Summary
The candidate is an Assistant Professor with expertise in chronic illness and informatics whose
overarching career goal is to use health technology interventions to contribute to the achievement of health
equity through behavior change and comorbidity prevention in diverse and underserved populations living with
Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In order to support this goal and leverage their experiences to date, the
Mentored Career Development Award training will focus on three areas: 1) Cardiovascular disease prevention
in ethnic/racial MSM, 2) Virtual environment (VE) theory and design, 3) advanced research design methods
and innovative analytic approaches. Training will consist of didactic and experiential training, workshops
intensives, and attendance at national scientific meetings. The candidate is supported by a distinguished team
of mentors who are leaders in their respective fields with successful NIH-funded programs of research in
cardiovascular disease and chronic illness prevention, technology-based interventions; and advanced
methodological design. The long-term goal of this research is to utilize a VE as a means to increase access to
online social supports and increase health promotion skills that can be transferred to the real world and result
in the prevention of HIV-related cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. The overall objective of this
application is twofold: 1) to receive the training and research experience necessary to become an independent
researcher who uses health technology interventions for HIV-related chronic illness prevention, and 2) to
address the NIH/NHLBI's call for a diverse early-career scientific workforce (e.g. RFA-HL-19- 025). As part of
the mentored research, an exploratory sequential wait-list control feasibility clinical trial will be conducted. Aim
1: Explore perceptions about HIV-related comorbidities (i.e., importance, concern) among minority MSM living
with HIV. Aim 2: Test the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects of a VE to address prevention of HIV-
related CVD comorbidities through behavioral and psychosocial outcomes. Aim 2a: Characterize the social
network structure and behaviors using process data collected from the VE-based intervention. In Aim 1, 15
qualitative interviews will explore perceptions of HIV-related comorbidity concerns. Aim 2 will be addressed in
an iterative multiphase approach. In phase one I will beta test the VE prior to deployment in the proposed
clinical feasibility trial. In phase two, I will use the Learning in Virtual Environments (LIVE©) platform to conduct
a wait-list control feasibility clinical trial with 80 adult, minority, MSM living with HIV and at-risk for HIV-related
comorbidities. While this type of technology has been applied effectively in diabetes and other chronic disease,
the ways in which VEs can be used to f...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10540915
- **Project number:** 7K01HL145580-04
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Silvia Raquel Ramos
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $138,569
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10540915

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10540915, LEveraging A viRtual eNvironment (LEARN) to Enhance Prevention of HIV-related Comorbidities in at-risk Minority MSM (7K01HL145580-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10540915. Licensed CC0.

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