Program Overview

The Behavioral and Social Sciences Program, under the leadership of Dr. Larry Brown, Professor of Psychiatry, has brought together more than forty researchers in behavioral sciences from the Departments of Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Medicine as well as the Brown Center for Behavioral Medicine. The goal is to provide a framework for dealing with psychiatric and behavioral issues in HIV as they specifically relate to the several distinct age groups (adolescent, young adult, elderly) and specific high-risk ethnic groups (predominately Latinos and /African-Americans).

The goals of this program are to: 1) Identify and promote behavioral issues in HIV-infected, HIV-affected and at-risk individuals and to encourage the further development of cross-disciplinary approaches to these issues. 2) Serve as an immediately available resource to investigators implementing HIV-related behavioral research. 3) Serve as liaisons with behavioral researchers from other CFARs to identify common scientific opportunities. 4) Encourage and promote the training of junior investigators in HIV behavioral research.

Several activities by the Behavioral and Social Sciences Program have been initiated to meet these goals. The program sponsored an afternoon conference at Miriam Hospital on February 1, 2008 that included presentations on current research by faculty. Topics included HIV prevention for Latino families, tobacco cessation for HIV infected adults, and MRI evidence of HIV encephalitis. The program (with support from the CFAR and Rhode Island, Miriam and Bradley Hospitals) is hosting in Providence on October 6-8, 2008, the annual NIMH International Conference on the Role of Families in Preventing and Adapting to HIV/AIDS. Registration and presentation information is available at www.familiesandHIV.com . Representatives from the program will also attend the Cross CFAR Behavioral and Social Sciences Conference in Seattle this year. This meeting addresses current research topics, stimulates cross-CFAR research, and includes a mentoring day for trainees and junior faculty.

The program is available as a resource to junior investigators planning CFAR Developmental Grant applications. CFAR Developmental Grant awardees for behavioral science-based studies to date have included Dr. Nicholas Zaller this year, Dr. Wendy Hadley in 2007, Drs. Daniel Smith and David Tate in 2006, and Dr. Celia Lescano in 2005.

In addition, Dr. Brown is Director of a recently funded NIMH T-32 program, “Biobehavioral Child and Adolescent HIV Research Training” with other CFAR investigators as primary mentors for psychology, psychiatry, and pediatric postdoctoral fellows. Two pre-doctoral trainees also participate in a three-month summer program. The training program has enrolled its first cohort of three post-doctoral trainees and will expand to five positions by late 2008.