Dr. Mary Mitchell Receives First R34 Award

Multiple Principal Investigators, Dr. Mary Mitchell from Friends Research Institute and Dr. Alicia Lucksted from the University of Maryland, were awarded a 3-year R34 grant entitled, “Intervention to Reduce Internalized Stigma (IRIS) among People Living with HIV who use Substances.” The purpose of the grant is to adapt and test an existing intervention to reduce self-stigma among people living with HIV (PLWH) with opioid use disorder and/or cocaine use disorder. The first year of the grant includes formative interviews with PLWH and key informants, and two pilot rounds of delivering the group intervention via Zoom. The grant culminates in a 2-year randomized clinical trial with 70 PLWH to test the intervention feasibility and acceptability, and preliminary measures of effectiveness.