# Intersectional Approaches to Population-Level Health Research: Role of HIV Risk and Mental Health in Alcohol Use Disparities among Diverse Sexual Minority Youth

> **NIH NIH R01** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $151,504

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This diversity supplement will provide research support for Dr. Shahin Davoudpour, a first-generation
immigrant from a developing country. Dr. Davoudpour is a postdoctoral research fellow within the Department
of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University who is in the process of being promoted to a Research
Assistant Professor position. His long-term goal is to become an independent investigator focused on research
in the fields of alcohol epidemiology, sexual minority health, and youth risk-taking behaviors. Alcohol use and
other risk-taking behaviors are common among youth, with notable disparities among sexual and racial/ethnic
minority youth; however, current research is limited by the use of single-item measures that ignore the diversity
of risk-taking experiences. This project will seek to address this gap in the literature through the use of an
existing pooled dataset of youth from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), which was compiled as part of
two NIAAA-funded grants (R01 AA024409 and R01 AA029044), containing observations from over one million
high-school aged youth collected between 2005 and 2019. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA) will be used to develop risk-taking profiles from YRBS participants by using a diverse
complement of health behaviors assessed within the survey, and the differential magnitude of the association
between these factors and alcohol use and HIV risk behaviors will be examined by race/ethnicity, sexual
orientation, and the intersection of race/ethnicity and sexual orientation. Although Dr. Davoudpour received
statistical training in his graduate work, he was never introduced to data reduction methods such as factor
analysis, a gap that this supplement will directly address. As part of his training, Dr. Davoudpour will receive
dedicated mentorship from leaders in HIV and alcohol epidemiology (Dr. Gregory Phillips II; PI of parent R01),
data reduction techniques (Dr. Patrick Janulis), and risk-taking behaviors (Dr. Philip Bromiley). Dr. Davoudpour
will also actively disseminate his research at national conferences and in peer-reviewed journals. The
mentorship opportunities afforded to Dr. Davoudpour by well-funded NIH researchers will prepare him well for
his ultimate goal: a subsequent K01 grant submission to extend his protected time for further career
development and towards academic independence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10828641
- **Project number:** 3R01AA029044-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory L. Phillips
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $151,504
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10828641

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10828641, Intersectional Approaches to Population-Level Health Research: Role of HIV Risk and Mental Health in Alcohol Use Disparities among Diverse Sexual Minority Youth (3R01AA029044-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10828641. Licensed CC0.

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