# Identifying socioecological profiles that impact changes in care outcomes among Black Sexual minority men living with HIV

> **NIH NIH UG3** · GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $811,432

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 The U.S. will not meet the targets of the Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan (EHE) without an intentional
focus on improving outcomes among Black sexual minority men living with HIV (BSMM LWH). Only 55% of
BSMM LWH maintain 100% daily treatment adherence and only 62% are virally suppressed. Research proves
that multilevel factors such as racism, stigma, depression, victimization, and economic instability are important
unaddressed determinants of HIV care outcomes. Updates to health care delivery models due to COVID-19
(i.e. telehealth) provided novel ways to improve HIV care engagement, retention, and adherence. However,
BSMM still experience worse outcomes than others even when accounting for differences in access to
resources. The literature collectively suggests that multilevel factors could create distinct socioecological
patterns that impact HIV care outcomes for BSMM LWH, especially across age groups. BSMM LWH have not
adequately engaged or retained in care activities because previous approaches do not account for their current
or combined socioecological experiences. Previous studies are outdated, cross-sectional, utilize culturally
inappropriate measures, and have small samples of Black participants. Sustainable approaches to engage this
population remain elusive, especially for young BSMM LWH. There is no digital, limited interaction cohort study
centered on BSMM LWH despite focus given to other priority populations such as transwomen, drug users,
and adolescents. The goal of this Limited Interaction Targeted Epidemiology proposal is to conduct a
prospective cohort study to identify the HIV care riskscape for BSMM LWH and examine how multilevel factors
impact changes in retention in HIV care, treatment adherence, and viral suppression. Phase 1 will identify
effective recruitment strategies (Aim 1) and validate commonly accepted scales among BSMM LWH to aid in
survey design (Aim 2). Then we will explore the feasibility and acceptability of enrolling a large digital cohort of
Mid-Atlantic BSMM LWH (Aim 3). Phase 2 will collect and analyze prospective cohort data collected at
baseline, 3-months, 6-months to quantify the cross sectional and longitudinal relationships between multilevel
factors and HIV care outcomes among 1,500 BSMM LWH (Aim 4). This study will be the largest prospective
cohort focused on BSMM LWH ever conducted and targets high-priority EHE locales. This study aligns with
NIH priorities to map longitudinal trajectories of the HIV care continuum, identify predictors of changes in viral
suppression, and support large studies led by Black investigators. This work also builds upon the existing
collaboration, resources, and support of the Mid Atlantic CFAR Consortium and is the next step needed in our
work to design equitable approaches to improve HIV care outcomes for BSMM LWH.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10885159
- **Project number:** 5UG3MH133258-02
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Derek Tramel Dangerfield II
- **Activity code:** UG3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $811,432
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-15 → 2025-03-21

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10885159

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10885159, Identifying socioecological profiles that impact changes in care outcomes among Black Sexual minority men living with HIV (5UG3MH133258-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10885159. Licensed CC0.

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