UCSF CFAR Substance Use Program of Research (SUPR)

Leadership

  • Carol Dawson-Rose, Co-Director
  • Milo Santos, Co-Director
  • Judy Hahn, Senior Advisor

Substance use is an important driver of HIV acquisition and transmission, with HIV disproportionately impacting people who use substances. Moreover, substance use can impact HIV prevention and HIV care outcomes. Hence, there is an urgent need to address the intersection of substance use and HIV to advance our goal of Getting to Zero.

The purpose of the new Substance Use Program of Research (SUPR), is to build capacity for HIV/substance use research and to promote substance use research to stimulate innovations. More broadly, SUPR seeks to accelerate efforts to eliminate HIV by supporting research to prevent HIV infections among people who use substances and elevate the health of people living with HIV who use substances.

Services

  • Study Design:
    • Conceptualization of research studies and grant proposals, framing of hypotheses and research questions
    • Identification of measurements for substance use severity, consequences, and related biomarkers
    • Guidance in addressing ethical issues in HIV/SU research, and in development of IRB protocols and grant human subjects research sections
  • Study Conduct:
    • Best practices for research with substance-using populations (e.g., enhancing recruitment and retention)
    • Data collection, data analyses, and interpretation
  • Interventions for HIV/SU:
    • Identification, development, implementation of successful HIV / SU interventions from a harm reduction perspective
  • Opportunities for training and collaborations in HIV/SU:
    • Development of a compendium of UCSF research studies related to intersection of HIV and substance use
    • Identification of research studies eligible for Administrative and Diversity supplements
    • Identification of research studies for secondary data analyses and pilot studies
    • Referrals between UCSF investigators who might bring relevant expertise in HIV/SU research
  • Support a diverse cadre of ESIs working in HIV/SU:
    • Mentoring and support in grant applications for ESI
    • Works-in-progress and peer review meetings
  • Identification of existing datasets for secondary analyses

Get involved

  • To access core services, contact Carol Dawson-Rose and Milo Santos,
  • To be added to the ESI works-in-progress (WIP) sessions, please contact Jenni Jain.
  • To provide feedback, be added to our listserv, or find out more, please contact Yvette Cuca.

Guest Speaker Series

This series features visiting experts who are leading research on the intersection of HIV and Substance Use. Guest Speakers will share projects that are accelerating efforts to eliminate HIV among people who use substances and elevating the health of people living with HIV who use substances. All are welcome!

Contacts