Reducing food insecurity and cardiometabolic problems in people with HIV using peer support and a mobile app
Official title: Exploring the consequences of food insecurity and harnessing the power of peer navigation and mHealth to reduce food insecurity and cardiometabolic comorbidities among persons with HIV
Funded at Wake Forest University Health Sciences · NIH-11131145 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will try a bilingual peer support program plus a mobile phone app to help people with HIV who struggle with food and lower their risk of diabetes and heart-related conditions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wake Forest University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Winston-Salem, United States) |
| Project start | August 4, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $637,775 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NR020307-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11131145 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults living with HIV who are food insecure and receive care at the Wake Forest Infectious Diseases Specialty Clinic or similar clinics, especially those from rural or Appalachian areas, are the intended participants.
✕Less likely to help
People who are food secure, not living with HIV, or unable/unwilling to use a mobile phone or work with a peer navigator are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this specific intervention.
What this research studies
If you have HIV and trouble getting enough food, the team will follow you during your regular clinic visits and collect health information yearly for up to three years to track diabetes and other cardiometabolic conditions. They will compare people who are food secure with those who are food insecure to see how food access relates to developing these conditions. The study will also offer a bilingual intervention that combines trained peer navigators with a mobile health (mHealth) tool to connect people to food resources and support adherence to HIV care. The work is based at a large Ryan White-funded clinic serving mostly rural and South Central Appalachian communities.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the approach could reduce food insecurity, improve HIV treatment adherence, and lower rates of prediabetes, diabetes, and other cardiometabolic problems in people with HIV.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies show peer navigation and mHealth can improve HIV care engagement and adherence, but using them specifically to reduce food insecurity-driven cardiometabolic disease is a newer approach with limited prior testing.
Where this research is happening
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Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Winston-Salem, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rhodes, Scott D — Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Rhodes, Scott D
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.