Funding has been awarded to principal investigator Susan M. Graham, MD, MPH, PhD by the National Institute of Mental Health (1P30MH140479-01A1) to continue to the work of The University of Washington Behavioral Innovation Research Center for HIV (BIRCH), based in Seattle, which is a developmental AIDS Research Center (ARC) that supports research leaders across the multidisciplinary spectrum of clinical, behavioral, epidemiologic, statistical, and implementation science expertise needed to end the HIV epidemic (EHE).
ABSTRACT
The goal of this application is to transition the University of Washington (UW) Behavioral Innovation Research Center for HIV (BIRCH) from a Developmental to a Full NIMH-funded AIDS Research Center (ARC). Accomplishments during our D-ARC period include steady increase in BIRCH membership, meaningful collaborations with community partners, continual growth of externally funded research, successful competition for End the HIV Epidemic supplements, support of annual pilot awards, and outstanding early return on investment from mentoring our junior faculty. As we prepared this renewal application, we reinvigorated our strategic planning process, added new faculty members, strengthened services and synergies across Cores and with the UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research, and centered our community engagement activities.
Our mission statement for this application is “to catalyze multi-disciplinary research on innovative and impactful interventions to improve behavioral health and HIV outcomes among people living with or vulnerable to HIV.” The significant mental health (MH)-related HIV challenges among vulnerable populations in our region and globally, combined with the UW’s strengths in public health, psychiatry, behavioral sciences, primary care in underserved and rural settings, and global health make the UW an ideal setting to establish an innovation hub to provide critical services to HIV/MH researchers.
The proposed BIRCH mission, organization, and Core services arise from our iterative growth as a D-ARC, which has led to an effective, well-functioning Center. Ongoing strategic planning incorporates guidance from our Community Action Group (CAG), our Local and US/Global Scientific Advisory Boards (SABs), BIRCH members and other collaborators. The Administrative Core provides leadership, directs strategic planning, coordinates cross-Core activities, convenes our CAG and SABs, and promotes collaborations with community partners. The Developmental Core awards pilot funding, mentors early-stage investigators and investigators new to HIV/MH research and provides capacity-building for our community partners. The Methods Core provides consultations on theory-informed research design and quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches, adding new focus on community engagement, translational and implementation science, and social determinants and syndemics. The Integrated Care Core provides expertise and services to conduct research promoting integration of MH and other behavioral health services into HIV prevention and care and support community-engaged research to increase access to MH interventions. The Healthy Aging with HIV Core, our new core, will provide expertise and research services related to MH interventions to improve HIV outcomes and quality of life of older people with HIV, a growing population that faces challenges related to social stressors and physical comorbidities.
Building from our impressive D-ARC accomplishments, BIRCH is poised to make a unique contribution as a NIMH ARC focused on interventions that have measurable impact on HIV outcomes locally, regionally, nationally and globally.