Digital tools to improve HIV testing and prevention for teens in the ER
Official title: Screen Smart: Using Digital Health to Improve HIV Screening and Prevention for Adolescents in the Emergency Department
Funded at Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr · NIH-11324601 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses digital prompts in pediatric emergency departments to offer routine HIV testing and connect teens and young adults to prevention like PrEP.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cincinnati, United States) |
| Project start | April 13, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $769,815 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD110321-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11324601 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Teens and young adults (roughly ages 12–24) who come to participating pediatric emergency departments and who have not recently been tested for HIV are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not visit participating EDs, those outside the target age range, patients already in stable HIV care, or those who decline testing are unlikely to get direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If you visit a participating children's emergency department, staff will use digital systems to offer routine, opt-out HIV testing for teens and young adults. The team will adapt a workflow that worked for ED-based gonorrhea and chlamydia screening and roll it out across a network of pediatric EDs (PECARN). Digital prompts and follow-up procedures will be built into the normal ED workflow so testing and referrals happen without extra clinic visits. Multiple children's hospitals will try the approach to determine which steps increase testing and successfully link at-risk youth to prevention services.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, more adolescents would learn their HIV status sooner and be quickly connected to treatment or PrEP to prevent infection.
How similar studies have gone: Previous emergency-department STI screening programs have increased testing and linkage to care, so applying these digital workflows to HIV and PrEP builds on prior successes.
Where this research is happening
-
Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr
Cincinnati, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Reed, Jennifer Lynn — Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr
- Study coordinator: Reed, Jennifer Lynn
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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.