Health behaviors (e.g., HIV prevention, HIV medication adherence, sexual behavior, substance use/abuse); GLBTQ issues; interventions designed to change sexual/drug using behaviors among various populations; club drug use (ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine)

I am the Director of the Hunter College Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (CHEST). All CHEST projects are based on theories of health behavior change and are designed to reduce the spread of HIV and/or to improve the lives of persons with HIV. Our research is conducted off-site at our research center located at 250 West 26th Street in Chelsea.

ACTIVE PROJECTS

1. Young Urban Men’s Study - the primary aim of the project is to test a brief four-session risk reduction intervention, based on Motivational Interviewing for the co-occurrence of club drug use [i.e., cocaine, LSD, GHB, ketamine (“K”), MDMA (“Ecstasy”), and methamphetamine (“Crystal”)] and sexual risk taking behaviors among non-treatment seeking young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in NYC. A sample of 300 YMSM (ages 18-29) who report risky sex and club drug use in the past 90 days will be randomly assigned to one of two study arms and will complete a baseline assessment and follow-up assessments at 3, 6, 9, and 12-months in order to assess short-term and longer-term effects.
2. Development and Evaluation of a Behavioral Intervention for Transgender Women - This CDC funded project intends to develop and evaluate a “ground breaking intervention” for transgender women. The project seeks to reduce risky behaviors by developing an intervention that teaches individuals: 1) skills to deal with gender stigma and stress, 2) information about the strong links between coping with stress/stigma and risk behaviors, and 3) the benefits of self care and help seeking for other problems they may face. The project will involve collecting formative data through in person interviews followed by implementation of a group intervention. CHEST will work on this project in close collaboration with a local non-profit community based organization, Hudson Pride Connections, in Jersey City, NJ.
3. The Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) Coding Project - CHEST has been subcontracted with several universities and organizations to supervise and give feedback on their intervention counseling sessions that are based in the principles of Motivational Interviewing. To provide the most efficient feedback, videos of treatment sessions are coded using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) Scale, a brief measure of treatment integrity that focuses specifically on therapist behavior rather than the therapeutic process. To be trained in MITI coding, interns must commit to at least two semesters at CHEST due to length of training, meetings and coding of tapes. This is ideally suited for those students interested in pursuing graduate work in clinical or counseling psychology.

COMPLETED PROJECTS WITH ONGOING DATA ANALYSES

1. Classified Project - This is a formative study of gay/bisexual male escorts who advertise their sexual services on the internet. We are looking at how their sexual behaviors differ among their paying and non-paying partners. The study involves qualitative and quantitative data analyses.
2. Project SPIN - This is an assessment study of sexual compulsivity among gay/bisexual men. Currently, there are no agreed-upon DSM criteria for this disorder, so this project uses qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to better understand symptoms of sexual compulsivity.
3. PLUS (Positive Living through Understanding and Support) - This is a randomized clinical trial of an eight session therapy intervention (versus an eight session educational control) designed to reduce alcohol use and improve HIV medication adherence among HIV+ men and women who have alcohol use disorders. Outcomes are assessed via self-report measures and biological outcomes (e.g., viral load, CD4 counts, and liver enzyme tests for alcohol abuse).

Students work with us in a variety of capacities - as volunteers, for Independent Study or Independent Research credit, for Work Study, or to gain access to data for Honors Theses or Masters Theses.

Required skills vary depending on the project. Overall, however, what is listed below is a good general background.

Essential: Reliability, ability to work independently, comfort with ethnically diverse persons, gay/bisexual/transgendered persons, and with sexually explicit language used in our surveys and interviews.

Desirable: Statistics, typing, English comprehension and writing

All new interns are expected to attend an orientation seminar in the beginning of the semester and a research seminar near the end of the semester. Specific responsibilities will vary depending on the project. However, students may be involved in the following: (1) recruitment of potential participants through field-based work; (2) data entry; (3) transcription of qualitative interviews; (4) coding of qualitative data.

Students will be trained in basic information about HIV, sexual risk behaviors, and substance use. Students will have the opportunity to learn about all phases of community-based research, including recruitment, screening, enrollment, and data collection/ analyses. Students will work with the faculty member, as well as other staff with varied backgrounds (clinical psych, social psych, developmental psych, sociology, public health). Advanced students will have the opportunity to be involved in writing of journal articles and presentations at conferences.