MARI Neighborhoods and Networks Cohort Study

To qualify: Self-report as African American or Black race; report having had sex with another male (MSM) in the past 6 months preceding the baseline assessment; being 18 to 25 years old; and reside in the Jackson, MS MSA.

The major goals of this project are to investigate relationships between GPS-defined activity space neighborhood characteristics, social and sexual network factors, and HIV prevention (e.g., condom use and pre-exposure prophylaxis) and care (e.g., antiretroviral therapy and viral load suppression) behaviors among Black MSM aged 18-29 years in the Jackson, MS metropolitan statistical area.

Specific Aim 1: Determine cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between neighborhood-level factors based on GPS-defined activity space neighborhoods (e.g. poverty, HIV prevalence and access to healthcare services, our primary predictors) and HIV prevention and care behaviors (e.g., anal intercourse with condoms, HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use, antiretroviral treatment (ART) uptake, viral load suppression and retention in HIV care, our primary outcomes) among a sample of 300 Black MSM in Jackson, MS MSA.

Specific Aim 2: Characterize cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between social and sexual network characteristics (e.g. network size, frequency of communication with network members, and material support, our primary predictors) and HIV prevention and care behaviors among a sample of 300 Black MSM in Jackson, MS MSA.

Specific Aim 3: Identify cross-sectional and longitudinal interactive effects of neighborhoods and social/sexual networks on HIV prevention and care behaviors among a sample of 300 Black MSM in Jackson, MS MSA.

Inclusion criteria include: self-report as African American or Black race; report having had sex with another male in the past 6 months preceding the baseline assessment; being 18 years or older; self-report no restrictions to usual physical activity; reside in the city of Jackson, MS MSA; no plans to move outside of Jackson MS MSA in the next year; and willingness to complete a two-week GPS protocol at five time-points over a year.

Contact

Shantoni Holbrook
601.500.7660
Open Arms Healthcare Center
805 East River Place
Jackson, MS 39202

SEE IF YOU QUALIFY, OR SHARE TO SPREAD THE WORD

Jackson, MS Neighborhoods Study

To qualify: Self-report as African American or Black race; report having had sex with another male (MSM) in the past 6 months preceding the baseline assessment; being 18 to 25 years old; and reside in the Jackson, MS MSA.

MARI Neighborhoods and Networks Cohort Study

To qualify: Self-report as African American; report having had sex with another male in the past 6 months; being 18 years or older; no restrictions to usual physical activity; reside in the Jackson, MS MSA; no plans to move outside of Jackson MS MSA in the next year; and willingness to complete a two-week GPS protocol at five time-points over a year.

Deep South Remedy Study

To qualify: We will identify, enroll, and assess 225 African American MSM aged 18 years and older from the cities of Atlanta, GA, Jackson, MS, and New Orleans, LA MSAs (225 per site; 75 HIV-infected and 150 HIV-uninfected). Eligibility further requires a confirmed HIV serostatus and a self-report of male assigned male at birth, or cis-males, and oral or anal sex with another man within the past 12 months.