Congratulations to Dr. Cathy Reback and her study team on the addition of Text Me, Girl! to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Best Practices Compilation. Text Me, Girl! is a culturally responsive and theory-based text messaging intervention designed specifically for young adult trans women living with HIV. The 90-day intervention consists of 270 unique scripted text messages; three daily unidirectional messages delivered via automation. Each text message reflects a placement along the HIV Care Continuum and each text message is grounded in a behavioral change theory. Findings from the randomized controlled trial demonstrated that exposure to Text Me, Girl! was significantly associated with increased advancement along the HIV Care Continuum including increased ART initiation and adherence, and increased viral suppression.

FRI is pleased to announce that Dr. Karli Hochstatter has been promoted to a Research Scientist, advancing from her position of Assistant Research Scientist which she has held since joining FRI in October 2021. Over the past year, Dr. Hochstatter has contributed to FRI studies focused on examining patient preferences and service delivery strategies. She has also maintained her longstanding collaboration with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in New York City where she is based, to study novel approaches to track and combat drug overdose fatalities. Her recent peer-reviewed publications have characterized fentanyl preferences among people with opioid use disorder, and evaluated a methodology used by the New York City OCME to rapidly identify drug overdoses as part of death scene investigations. Recently, Dr. Hochstatter received an R01 grant from NIDA to further optimize this methodology, known as the Suspected Potential Overdose Tracker (or SPOT Tool), and implement it in other jurisdictions across New York. In addition to this work, Dr. Hochstatter is working with Dr. Gryczynski and other FRI colleagues to study the impact of changing practices in methadone treatment on treatment access, patients’ recovery outcomes, and community-level overdose mortality. FRI would like to congratulate Dr. Hochstatter on this accomplishment and wishes her a productive career with FRI.

FRI is pleased to announce that Dr. Karli Hochstatter has accepted a position as an Assistant Research Scientist with the organization. Dr. Hochstatter recently completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the HIV, Substance Abuse, and Criminal Justice T32 Fellowship Program in the School of Social Work at Columbia University. Dr. Hochstatter completed her PhD in Population Health Sciences with a minor in Criminal Justice Health (2019), Master of Public Health (2015), and Bachelor of Science (2013) degrees at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Her research focuses on preventing HIV and hepatitis C virus transmission and improving screening and treatment uptake among populations disproportionately burdened by substance use disorders, with a special focus on people who inject drugs and criminal justice-involved adults. She has worked on several NIDA-funded research projects that address the intersecting epidemics of injection drug use and infectious diseases, particularly hepatitis C virus and HIV.

FRI is delighted to welcome Dr. Hochstatter and wishes her a successful career with the organization.

It is the pleasure of Friends Research Institute to announce that Dr. Mishka Terplan, Associate Medical Director since 2019, assumed the role of Medical Director on August 1, 2021.  Dr. Terplan is board certified in Addiction Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology.  He is a Fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and a member of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.  His research has focused on reproductive health for people who use drugs, development of guidance for care of pregnant women with substance use disorders, and the public health response to the opioid crisis.  More recently, Dr. Terplan has been instrumental in the interpretation of federal, state, and local guidance related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the development of workplace policies related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus to ensure the safety of FRI’s employees and study participants.  In addition to his medical oversight duties, Dr. Terplan also plans to continue his research in reproductive health and the treatment of substance use disorders.

A sample of Dr. Terplan’s publications can be found on his bio page at:  https://friendsresearch.org/people/mishka-terplan-m-d-m-p-h-facog-dfasam/?val=r.

Dr. Cathy Reback’s research is included in the SAMHSA intervention guide, “Prevention and Treatment of HIV among People Living with Substance Use and/or Mental Disorders.”

The Alexis Project is a combined Peer Health Navigation (PHN) and Contingency Management (CM) intervention that targets HIV milestones associated with advancement along the HIV Care Continuum. Although designed for racial/ethnic minority transgender women living with HIV, The Alexis Project can be adapted to work with any population of individuals that experience barriers and challenges to HIV linkage and retention in care.  The PHN component of the intervention helps to: (1) identify the barriers to HIV care for each participant; (2) identify and link participants into needed auxiliary services; and, (3) increase participants’ self-efficacy in working with HIV care providers and other social service and treatment facilities. The CM component of the intervention provides an escalating CM rewards schedule for attending quarterly HIV care appointments and achieving/sustaining viral load reductions. Results demonstrated that increased attendance to PHN sessions was associated with significant achievement in HIV milestones (all p ≤ 0.01); 85% were linked to HIV care, and 83% of those who enrolled with a detectable viral load and achieved the minimum 1 log viral load reduction advanced to full viral suppression. The combined PHN and CM intervention in The Alexis Project successfully promoted advancement along the HIV Care Continuum.