# Brown University and University of the Philippines Training Program for the Prevention of HIV in Vulnerable Populations

> **NIH NIH D43** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $297,362

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The Philippines is currently experiencing one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world. HIV
prevalence in the Philippines had initially remained low and dormant until 2006, but in 2007 an epidemic shift
occurred such that HIV transmission became attributed primarily to male same-sex behavior. Following this
turning point the HIV epidemic has expanded rapidly, with an estimated 812% increase in reported cases from
2008-2013 and 90% of new surveillance cases concentrated in men who have sex with men (MSM) and
transgender women. Health services in the Philippines currently do not adequately meet the HIV prevention,
testing, or treatment needs of the country’s most vulnerable populations such as MSM and transgender
women. This lack of HIV services parallels the limited capacity in the Philippines to conduct high-quality
research on HIV prevention/treatment and to design effective interventions with vulnerable populations such as
MSM and transgender women. The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) is the premier health sciences
research university in the Philippines, and is strategically positioned to be a leader in HIV research with
vulnerable populations. However, UPM currently lacks a sizable cadre of research scientists who have the
training to conduct cutting-edge HIV prevention/treatment research with MSM and transgender women, and
lacks necessary coursework and curriculum to train the next generation of HIV research scientists in the
Philippines. The proposed D43 training program will respond to this need by establishing a partnership
between UPM and Brown University. This training program builds on a previous successful partnership and
collaboration between UPM and Brown: the Fogarty AIDS International Training Research Program (AITRP),
which trained 21 HIV scientists in the Philippines on clinical aspects of HIV infection, basic HIV epidemiology,
and behavioral prevention counseling. The program will further expand research and educational/curricular
capacity at UPM by accomplishing the following Specific Aims: (i) Use long-term training to expand the cohort
of research scientists focusing on HIV intervention research with MSM and transgender women in the
Philippines (2 PhD and 5 Master’s students over 5 years); (ii) Facilitate revision and expansion of UPM
curriculum on HIV interventions with vulnerable populations; (iii) Establish an annual Workshop for Research
on HIV Interventions with Vulnerable Populations, based at UPM, for dissemination of research findings,
professional networking, and mobilizing new research projects. This program proposal represents a long-term
commitment and collaboration between researchers at both partner Universities, and planning of this program
was informed by consultation with clinical professionals, governmental and non-governmental HIV service
providers, and stakeholders in the Philippines. The training plan aligns with priorities set forth in the Trans-NIH
strategic plan on HIV/AIDS...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9952444
- **Project number:** 5D43TW010565-04
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** DON OPERARIO
- **Activity code:** D43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $297,362
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-06-12 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9952444

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9952444, Brown University and University of the Philippines Training Program for the Prevention of HIV in Vulnerable Populations (5D43TW010565-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9952444. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*