The Developmental Core leadership congratulates the investigators recently selected for Third Coast CFAR pilot awards. These one-year, high impact projects address NIH’s Office of AIDS Research priorities and will prepare awardees to submit competitive applications to NIH in the next 1-2 years.

Letters of intent for the upcoming summer 2022 pilot competition are due April 4, 2022. View the pilot RFA. 

Preventing HIV Among People Living with Mental Illness Identifying as Sexual and Gender Minorities Via Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): A Mixed Methods Study of Patients and Mental Healthcare Providers in Chicago
Aniruddha Hazra, MD, The University of Chicago
Mentor: John Schneider, MD, The University of Chicago

Transgender Men’s Perspectives on HIV Risk and HIV Prevention Interventions
Ricky Hill, PhD, Northwestern University
Mentor: Michael Newcomb, PhD, Northwestern University

Associations Between Plasma Biomarkers of the Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype and Frailty in Older Persons with HIV
Mary Clare Masters, MD, Northwestern University
Mentor: Frank Palella, MD, Northwestern University

The Brain’s Central Executive Network: A Potential Source of Resilience Against Comorbidities of HIV
Robin Nusslock, PhD, Northwestern University
Mentor: Brian Mustanski, PhD, Northwestern University

HIV-1 Modulation of Human Mast Cell Phenotype, Function, and Survival
Jeremy O’Sullivan, PhD, Northwestern University
Mentor: Thomas Hope, PhD, Northwestern University

Partner Risk Heuristics and HIV-related Risk Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men
Elissa Sarno, PhD, Northwestern University
Mentor: Michael Newcomb, PhD, Northwestern University

A Needs Assessment of HIV-related Individual & Structural Social Determinants of Health in the Latinx Population in Chicago and Cook County, IL
Harita Shah, MD, The University of Chicago
Mentor: Gregory L. Phillips, PhD, Northwestern University