Better ways to measure and improve HIV prevention
Statistical Methods for Advancing HIV Prevention
This project develops new statistical tools and a trial plan to help researchers more accurately measure how well HIV prevention methods work for people at risk of HIV.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11325287 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you're at risk for HIV, this project aims to make it easier to tell whether prevention like PrEP is reducing new infections in your community by improving lab tests that indicate how recently infections happened. Researchers will improve the statistics behind 'recency' assays so results adjust for different patient factors and changing trends over time, which should give more precise estimates of new infections. They will also create a new trial plan that uses extra information to estimate what would have happened without the prevention, so new prevention options can be tested even when effective drugs already exist. Most of the work uses data from testing programs and clinical trials rather than giving new treatments directly to participants.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people at risk for HIV who take part in community testing, prevention programs, or clinical trials and who agree to let researchers use routine test results or samples.
Not a fit: People not at risk for HIV, those not involved in testing or prevention programs, or those seeking immediate changes in their personal treatment are unlikely to benefit directly from this methods-focused work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could make it easier to identify which prevention strategies actually cut new HIV infections and speed better public-health decisions about who should get which prevention tools.
How similar studies have performed: Recency assays and statistical methods have been used before and show promise for estimating incidence but often lack precision, so this project builds on promising but imperfect approaches.
Where this research is happening
Seattle, United States
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center — Seattle, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gao, Fei — Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
- Study coordinator: Gao, Fei
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.