ATN Coordinating Center
ATN research is conducted through collaborations within the network and with researchers in other institutions. The ATN currently includes three research program projects (or U19s) and a Coordinating Center (CC). The CC provides support, coordination, and operational infrastructure to the Network. The CC also provides project management, data management, and statistical expertise to individual Network studies critical to the mission of the ATN. Currently ATN CC studies are Work 2 Prevent, Consent 2.0, TERA, and Planning 4 Prep as described below. Click any study link for more details.
For adolescents at high-risk for HIV infection, how does the process of consent affect their acceptance of being a part of an HIV prevention trial? Consent 2.0 looks at this question from the perspective of the adolescents and also parents' support of the participation of an adolescent in an HIV trial.
Triggered Escalating Real-time Adherence (TERA) is a study that focuses on participants who have already failed their anti-retroviral (ART) adherence after 24 weeks. Those participants will engage with counselors for adherence coaching, with the goal of adherence to staying on ART over the course of 3 months, up to nearly a year with sustained viral suppression. This coaching includes video-enabled conferences and text, phone, and video messaging for any missed dosages as reported by the participant’s electronic dose monitoring device.
Work2Prevent is an employment intervention study for young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and young transgender women (YTW) of color between the ages of 16-24. This study includes focus groups, interviews with employers, and a community advisory board to review and test ways to empower and develop youth toward economic stability, as well as reduction of HIV risk in this population.
20% of new infections of HIV in the US occur in women of childbearing age. Yet Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could reduce the number of new infections. While the use of PrEP could help reduce the HIV epidemic, PrEP is underused by women of all ages. One reason for lower PrEP use is a lack of knowledge about it among family planning providers, especially in the South.
Planning 4 Prep is an innovative delivery approach for PrEP, involving surveys and interviews of clinic administrators and providers in Title X clinics in the South. The project will also study 3 Title X clinics that include PrEP among their services to evaluate reach, adoption, and implementation across those clinics. The project will also involve a 6-month PrEP uptake, continuation, and adherence among PrEP-eligible women across three Title X clinics being studied.