Mentoring Early-Career Investigators of HIV/STI Health Disparities Research: A Study Examining the CAPS Visiting Professors Program.

Background: To build research capacity for early-career faculty conducting HIV/STI research with minoritized communities and to enhance diversity in the scientific workforce, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Center for AIDS Prevention (CAPS) conducts a training program for visiting professors (VPs), begun in 1996. VPs are in residence at CAPS for three summers, complete a pilot research project, and prepare National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant proposals. Best practices and key elements for successfully training scholars of color, and others who work with minoritized communities, are identified.

Barriers to and enablers of the HIV services continuum among gay and bisexual men worldwide: Findings from the Global Men's Health and Rights Study.

Objectives: To assess ecological, structural, community and individual level correlates of health services utilization along a continuum of HIV care, and sexual health and support services among gay and bisexual men worldwide.

Methods: Using a nonprobability internet sample of 6,135 gay and bisexual men, we assessed correlates of utilization of health services. Chi-Square Tests of Independence were performed to assess drop off along a continuum of HIV care.

Enablers and Barriers to HIV Services for Gay and Bisexual Men in the COVID-19 Era: Fusing Data Sets from Two Global Online Surveys Via File Concatenation With Adjusted Weights.

Background: Gay and bisexual men are 26 times more likely to acquire HIV than other adult men and represent nearly 1 in 4 new HIV infections worldwide. There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic may be complicating efforts to prevent new HIV infections, reduce AIDS-related deaths, and expand access to HIV services. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gay and bisexual men's ability to access services is not fully understood.

Peer- and community-led responses to HIV: A scoping review.

Introduction: In June 2021, United Nations (UN) Member States committed to ambitious targets for scaling up community-led responses by 2025 toward meeting the goals of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. These targets build on UN Member States 2016 commitments to ensure that 30% of HIV testing and treatment programmes are community-led by 2030. At its current pace, the world is not likely to meet these nor other global HIV targets, as evidenced by current epidemiologic trends.

Economic, Mental Health, HIV Prevention and HIV Treatment Impacts of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 Response on a Global Sample of Cisgender Gay Men and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men.

There is an urgent need to measure the impacts of COVID-19 among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a global sample of gay men and other MSM (n = 2732) from April 16, 2020 to May 4, 2020, through a social networking app. We characterized the economic, mental health, HIV prevention and HIV treatment impacts of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 response, and examined whether sub-groups of our study population are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Blue-Ribbon Boys: factors associated with PrEP use, ART use and undetectable viral load among gay app users across six regions of the world.

Introduction: Gay social networking apps have grown in popularity among men who have sex with men offering opportunities for rapid and confidential collection of vital data as well as social connection. The goal of our study was to explore factors associated with utilization of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and antiretroviral treatment (ART), and self-reported undetectable viral load (UVL) using data collected by the gay social networking app Hornet.

Methods: In 2016, the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) partnered with Hornet, to support an educational initiative called Blue-Ribbon Boys.

Depression and Risk for Problem Drinking in Latino Migrant Day Laborers.

Background: Given the structural vulnerability of Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs) to unstable and poorly paying work, harsh living conditions and frequent inability to support or even visit families in country of origin, psychological distress is a common response and one frequently implicated in risky outcomes such as problem drinking.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of three different forms of psychological distress to problem drinking in LMDLs: depression, anxiety, and desesperación, the latter a popular Latino culture-based idiom of psychological distress.

Methods: A cross sectional survey of 344 LMDLs was conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area from January to June of 2014.

Availability and Use of Substance Abuse Treatment Programs Among Substance-Using Men Who Have Sex With Men Worldwide.

Background: Substance use is common among men who have sex with men (MSM) worldwide, and epidemiologic data suggest that alcohol/substance-using MSM are at greater risk for HIV. However, there are scarce data on substance abuse treatment programs (SATPs) for substance-using MSM.

Objectives: We examined proportions of substance use as well as SATP availability and use.

Inequities in access to HIV prevention services for transgender men: results of a global survey of men who have sex with men.

Introduction: Free or low-cost HIV testing, condoms, and lubricants are foundational HIV prevention strategies, yet are often inaccessible for men who have sex with men (MSM). In the global context of stigma and poor healthcare access, transgender (trans) MSM may face additional barriers to HIV prevention services. Drawing on data from a global survey of MSM, we aimed to describe perceived access to prevention services among trans MSM, examine associations between stigma and access, and compare access between trans MSM and cisgender (non-transgender) MSM.

Reductions in access to HIV prevention and care services are associated with arrest and convictions in a global survey of men who have sex with men.

Objectives: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately impacted by HIV. Criminalisation of homosexuality may impede access to HIV services. We evaluated the effect of the enforcement of laws criminalising homosexuality on access to services.

in Latino migrant day laborers and its role in alcohol and substance-related sexual risk.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the relation between psychological distress and alcohol and substance related sexual risk in Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs). In addition to examining the roles of depression and anxiety, it was also necessary to examine the role of , a popular Latino idiom of distress frequently expressed by LMDLs in response to the thwarting of major migration related life goals such as traveling to the U.S.

Structural vulnerability and problem drinking among Latino migrant day laborers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs) live under challenging conditions in the San Francisco Bay Area. This study explored day laborer alcohol use guided by a structural vulnerability framework, specifically problem vs. non-problem drinking as perceived by LMDLs and how they cope with or try to avoid problem drinking given their broader environment.

Sexual stigma, criminalization, investment, and access to HIV services among men who have sex with men worldwide.

Globally, HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM). This study explored associations between access to HIV services and (1) individual-level perceived sexual stigma; (2) country-level criminalization of homosexuality; and (3) country-level investment in HIV services for MSM. 3,340 MSM completed an online survey assessing access to HIV services.

"As Good As It Gets": Undocumented Latino Day Laborers Negotiating Discrimination in San Francisco and Berkeley, California, USA.

Undocumented Latino day laborers in the United States are vulnerable to being arrested and expelled at any time. This social fact shapes their everyday lives in terms of actions taken and strategies deployed to mitigate being confronted, profiled, and possibly incarcerated and deported. While perceptions of threat and bouts of discrimination are routine among undocumented Latino day laborers, their specific nature vary according to multiple social factors and structural forces that differ significantly from locale to locale.

Characteristics of people who initiate injection drug use later in life.

Background: Studies report that among people who inject drugs (PWID), approximately 1 in 7 initiated injection during their thirties or later (referred to hereafter as "late initiates"). However, little is known about individuals who are late initiates. This study aims to describe characteristics of late initiates to drug injection and to examine how they differ from people who initiated drug injection prior to the age of 30 ("typical initiates").

Internalized homophobia and reduced HIV testing among men who have sex with men in China.

Although previous research has examined barriers and facilitators of HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China, few studies have focused on social factors, including homophobia and internalized homophobia. This study utilized data from a global online survey to determine correlates of HIV testing as part of a subanalysis focused on Chinese MSM. Controlling for age, HIV knowledge, number of sexual partners, and other covariates, ever having tested for HIV was significantly correlated with lower internalized homophobia.

African-American and Hispanic perceptions of HIV vaccine clinical research: a qualitative study.

Purpose: To examine perceptions of phase-I human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine trial participation among African-Americans and Hispanics in San Francisco, California.

Design: Qualitative, semistructured interviews.

Setting: San Francisco Department of Health.

Access to Basic HIV-Related Services and PrEP Acceptability among Men Who Have sex with Men Worldwide: Barriers, Facilitators, and Implications for Combination Prevention.

Introduction. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately impacted by HIV globally. Easily accessible combination HIV prevention strategies, tailored to the needs of MSM, are needed to effectively address the AIDS pandemic.