Spring Break
Professor awarded for HIV prevention method
Emily Volz
Issue date: 11/7/08 Section: News
UConn sociology professor Robert Broadhead has received an award from the National Institute of Drug Abuse that will enable him to adapt his already successful HIV-prevention method in regions overseas, where drug-related HIV infection is prevalent.
The NIDA award will fund the global expansion of his peer-driven intervention program for one year.
Broadhead has been developing a successful HIV prevention method in Connecticut since the 1990s. He currently teaches his intervention method to researchers and public health officials in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.
"This research has brought $8.5 million to UConn since 1993," Broadhead said. "We've been able to hire scores of graduate students who have worked on the project for different lengths of time."
The money also lets UConn replace Broadhead in the classroom, giving him time to develop his research and provide assistance to overseas programs.
Broadhead believes earlier efforts to control the spread of HIV were not sufficient.
"We are still so far behind in combating HIV in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia," Broadhead said. "We are playing a very serious catch-up game."
Broadhead's HIV prevention method focuses on injection drug users. He has developed a program of peer intervention, in which active injection drug users are recruited to educate fellow injection drug users about risks of contracting HIV through injection drug use.
Active injection drug users who choose to participate in the peer intervention program are offered cash incentives. Some injection drug users who participate in the program are even paid to recruit peers.
This winter, Broadhead will be running his peer-driven intervention program overseas.
"I'll be returning to Ukraine in December to provide technical assistance to health educators," Broadhead said. His work will focus on administering the model he developed and teaching health educators how to implement his model and work with injection drug users.
The NIDA award will fund the global expansion of his peer-driven intervention program for one year.
Broadhead has been developing a successful HIV prevention method in Connecticut since the 1990s. He currently teaches his intervention method to researchers and public health officials in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.
"This research has brought $8.5 million to UConn since 1993," Broadhead said. "We've been able to hire scores of graduate students who have worked on the project for different lengths of time."
The money also lets UConn replace Broadhead in the classroom, giving him time to develop his research and provide assistance to overseas programs.
Broadhead believes earlier efforts to control the spread of HIV were not sufficient.
"We are still so far behind in combating HIV in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia," Broadhead said. "We are playing a very serious catch-up game."
Broadhead's HIV prevention method focuses on injection drug users. He has developed a program of peer intervention, in which active injection drug users are recruited to educate fellow injection drug users about risks of contracting HIV through injection drug use.
Active injection drug users who choose to participate in the peer intervention program are offered cash incentives. Some injection drug users who participate in the program are even paid to recruit peers.
This winter, Broadhead will be running his peer-driven intervention program overseas.
"I'll be returning to Ukraine in December to provide technical assistance to health educators," Broadhead said. His work will focus on administering the model he developed and teaching health educators how to implement his model and work with injection drug users.
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