Social Work’s Whitfield receives National Institute of Mental Health grant

A man with glasses, a yellow shirt and suspenders

Darren Whitfield, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, received a $443,533 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate the relationship between psychosocial factors (depressive symptomatology, substance use, social support, perceived HIV risk) and adherence and persistence to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among young Black gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.  

Young Black men who have sex with men continue to experience a disproportionate rate of HIV infections in the United States. HIV PrEP is a biomedical prevention intervention shown to reduce risk of HIV infection; however, studies suggest young Black men are less likely to be prescribed PrEP and have significantly lower levels of adherence to PrEP compared to white men. In addition, persistence on PrEP among young Black men is low, with discontinuation rates ranging between 17 to 22 percent within six months of starting.

This study will examine the factors associated with long-term adherence to PrEP in young Black men in Atlanta, a city with a large concentration of young Black men impacted by HIV. The study is a collaboration between the Pitt School of Social Work and Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. 

The co-principal investigator of this study is Jeb Jones at the Rollins School and the co-investigator for the study is Patrick Sullivan at the Rollins School. Further collaborators in the study include Positive Impact Health Centers, NAESM Inc. and the Fulton County Board of Health.