Combining youth-friendly testing, counseling, and support to improve HIV care for Nigerian young people
Intensive Combination Approach to Rollback the HIV Epidemic in Nigerian Youth (iCARE) Plus Effectiveness / Implementation Hybrid Study
This project tries combined peer support and mobile-phone tools to find, link, and help Nigerian young people with HIV — especially young men who have sex with men and transgender women — start and stay on treatment.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Northwestern University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chicago, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11400918 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, you'll work with trained peer navigators who help with testing, clinic visits, and treatment reminders, and you'll receive mobile phone messages and app-based support to stay on care. The program partners with local government clinics to reach youth aged 15–24, focusing on young men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW), and youth living with HIV. It brings together proven components from a pilot (peer navigation plus mHealth) and tests them at larger scale to see how well they work in real-world Nigerian clinics. The team will track outcomes like HIV testing, linkage to care, ART adherence, and viral suppression while studying how clinics implement the approach.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are young people aged about 15–24 in Nigeria, especially young men who have sex with men, transgender women, and youth living with HIV who need help linking to care or staying on ART.
Not a fit: People outside the targeted age range, those who cannot access participating sites in Nigeria, or those already stably suppressed on ART with no adherence concerns are unlikely to benefit directly.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could increase HIV testing and treatment starts and help more young people achieve and maintain viral suppression, reducing illness and onward transmission.
How similar studies have performed: An earlier pilot (UG3) showed the peer navigation plus mHealth approach was feasible and beneficial, but large-scale effectiveness and implementation evidence in Nigeria remains limited.
Where this research is happening
Chicago, United States
- Northwestern University — Chicago, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Garofalo, Robert — Northwestern University
- Study coordinator: Garofalo, Robert
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.