Past Studies



MyPEEPS

MyPEEPS (Male Youth Pursuing Empowerment, Education and Prevention around Sexuality) is a smartphone app created to empower young guys who like other guys to make safe, educated decisions about their sexual health. MyPEEPS is a collaboration between Columbia University, University of Washington, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Birmingham AIDS Outreach, University of Alabama and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center.

People who used the app completed activities and games to learn about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), safe sex, effective communication in relationships, and much more. Participants were enrolled for up to a year, completing compensated surveys every 3 months.

Research reported for MyPEEPS was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHHD) Award (5U01MD011279-05).

Select publications from this study:

  • Schnall, R., Kuhns, L., Hidalgo, M., Hirshfield, S., Pearson, C., Radix, A., Belkind, U., Bruce, J., Batey, D. S., & Garofalo, R. (2018). Development of MyPEEPS Mobile: A Behavioral Health Intervention for Young Men. Studies in health technology and informatics, 250, 31.
    Schnall, R., Kuhns, L. M., Hidalgo, M. A., Powell, D., Thai, J., Hirshfield, S., Pearson, C., Ignacio, M., Bruce, J., Batey, D. S., Radix, A., Belkind, U., & Garofalo, R. (2018). Adaptation of a Group-Based HIV RISK Reduction Intervention to a Mobile App for Young Sexual Minority Men. AIDS education and prevention : official publication of the International Society for AIDS Education, 30(6), 449–462. https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2018.30.6.449.
  • Ignacio, M., Garofalo, R., Pearson, C., Kuhns, L. M., Bruce, J., Scott Batey, D., Radix, A., Belkind, U., Hidalgo, M. A., Hirshfield, S., & Schnall, R. (2019). Pilot feasibility trial of the MyPEEPS mobile app to reduce sexual risk among young men in 4 cities. JAMIA open, 2(2), 272–279. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooz008
  • Kuhns, L. M., Garofalo, R., Hidalgo, M., Hirshfield, S., Pearson, C., Bruce, J., Batey, D. S., Radix, A., Belkind, U., Jia, H., & Schnall, R. (2020). A randomized controlled efficacy trial of an mHealth HIV prevention intervention for sexual minority young men: MyPEEPS mobile study protocol. BMC public health, 20(1), 65. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8180-4.
  • Schnall, R., Kuhns, L., Pearson, C., Bruce, J., Batey, D. S., Radix, A., Belkind, U., Hidalgo, M. A., Hirshfield, S., Ganzhorn, S., & Garofalo, R. (2020). Preliminary Results from a Pragmatic Clinical Trial of MyPEEPS Mobile to Improve HIV Prevention Behaviors in Young Men. Studies in health technology and informatics, 270, 1365–1366. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI200444.
  • Gordián-Arroyo, A., Garofalo, R., Kuhns, L. M., Pearson, C., Bruce, J., Batey, D. S., Radix, A., Belkind, U., Hidalgo, M. A., Hirshfield, S., Schrimshaw, E. W., & Schnall, R. (2020). Awareness, Willingness, and Perceived Efficacy of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis among Adolescent Sexual Minority Males. Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 97(5), 749–757. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00447-5.
  • Cordoba, E., Idnay, B., Garofalo, R., Kuhns, L. M., Pearson, C., Bruce, J., Batey, D. S., Radix, A., Belkind, U., Hidalgo, M. A., Hirshfield, S., Rodriguez, R. G., & Schnall, R. (2021). Examining the Information Systems Success (ISS) of a mobile sexual health app (MyPEEPS Mobile) from the perspective of very young men who have sex with men (YMSM). International journal of medical informatics, 153, 104529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2021.104529.


FIRED UP

FIRED UP (Furthering Investigation into Retention, Engagement, and Dynamics of PrEP Utilization) was a study collaboration between Hunter College (Hunter Alliance for Research & Translation) and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, hoping to better is to understand how transgender women and non-binary transfeminine individuals decide:

  • whether or not to take PrEP;
  • what makes it easy or hard for women on PrEP to take the medication;
  • and whether levels of PrEP medication differ for women who are taking feminizing hormones (i.e., estrogen) and those who are not.

The study comprised of two parts: a review of retrospective electronic health data, (comparing 160 patients on PrEP with 160 patients never on PrEP matched by demographics), and a prospective cohort of 150 transgender women and non-binary transfeminine patients at Callen-Lorde, with 100 currently taking PrEP, 50 who have never taken PrEP (and were HIV- at time of enrollment). Over the course of 6 months, FIRED UP participants filled out surveys every 3 months, and the PrEP cohort also gave urine and blood samples to test for levels of tenofovir and estrogen at the 3 month and 6 month surveys.

Research reported for FIRED UP was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Award (1R21MH116757-01).

Select publications from this study:

  • Starbuck, L., Golub, S. A., Klein, A., Harris, AB., Guerra, A., Rincon, C., & Radix, A. E. (2022). Transgender Women and PrEP Care: High PrEP Adherence in a Real-World Health Care Setting in New York City. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999), 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002915. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000002915.


SPARK

SPARK (Furthering Investigation into Retention, Engagement, and Dynamics of PrEP Utilization) was a study collaboration between Hunter College (Hunter Alliance for Research & Translation), City University of New York Graduate Center, and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, that utilized a prospective, longitudinal, open-label cohort study assessing PrEP delivery in a LGBTQ community health center environment. Participants were 300 patients of the health center (18-63; 49% White) who met PrEP eligibility criteria and decided to start PrEP.

SPARK participants were followed for 12-months and tested quarterly for STIs (urethral/rectal gonorrhea/chlamydia and syphilis). Data were also collected on participants presenting to the health center between study visits for STI testing. STI diagnosis at each time point is inclusive of positive results at interim visits. Chart review was conducted to assess STI diagnoses in the 6 months prior to starting PrEP and at the PrEP prescription visit. We examined baseline demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial predictors of any STI diagnosis over the 12-month follow-up, as well as change scores (e.g., changes in condom use and number of partners). Analyses were restricted to the 261 participants (87%) who were retained at 12-months.

Research reported for SPARK was funded by a grant from the National Institute of National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Award (R01AA022067).

Select publications from this study:

  • Golub, S. A., Fikslin, R. A., Goldberg, M. H., Peña, S. M., & Radix, A. (2019). Predictors of PrEP Uptake Among Patients with Equivalent Access. AIDS and behavior, 23(7), 1917–1924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2376-y.