House Ball family support to improve HIV prevention and care for Black sexual and gender minorities
Official title: Our Family, Our Voices: An Efficacy Trial Of An Intervention Utilizing Family-Based Assets To Optimize HIV Prevention And Care Outcomes For Black Sexual and Gender Minorities In House Ball Communities
Funded at Suny Downstate Medical Center · NIH-11257148 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This program brings House Ball family-based retreats and peer-led support to Black and Latinx sexual and gender minority people to help with HIV prevention and staying connected to care.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Suny Downstate Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Brooklyn, United States) |
| Project start | May 6, 2026 |
| Project end | November 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $1,250,162 |
| NIH project number | 1R01MD021145-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11257148 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are Black and Latinx sexual and gender minority adults who are active in House Ball communities and who could benefit from extra support for HIV prevention or care.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not connected to House Ball families or who already have stable access to HIV prevention and care services may get little or no added benefit.
What this research studies
If I join, I would attend family-based retreats and group sessions led with House Ball leaders to build leadership, learn advocacy, and get help accessing PrEP, testing, and HIV care. The program is HIV status-neutral and gender-expansive, so people living with HIV and those at risk are welcome. Activities are developed with the community and tailored to address stigma, family rejection, and practical barriers to care. The team will follow participants over time to see if this group-based, family-focused support helps people start or stay on prevention and treatment.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could increase uptake of PrEP and HIV testing, improve retention in care, and reduce HIV-related harms among House Ball community members.
How similar studies have gone: Related culturally tailored interventions like Many Men, Many Voices have shown benefits for prevention and testing, but applying a family-based House Ball approach is relatively new and less tested.
Where this research is happening
-
Suny Downstate Medical Center
Brooklyn, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Birnbaum, Jeffrey M — Suny Downstate Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Birnbaum, Jeffrey M
Related research
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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.