As we kick off 2025, we are pleased to reflect on some of the outstanding accomplishments of our CHIPTS investigators in 2024, which will undoubtedly inspire our work in the year ahead! These achievements align with our key themes of addressing HIV and support our mission to strengthen collaborations, advance innovative research, and reach diverse populations.

Below highlights a few of our team’s accomplishments this year (not listed in any particular order).

Awarded Grants:

• Dr. Erik Storholm received an R34 grant from NIMH/NIAID for “Implementing an Evidence-Based Trauma Treatment with Community-led PrEP Navigation for Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals Affected by Violence and HIV.”
• Dr. Erik Storholm received a California HIV/AIDS Research Program (CHRP) grant with Co-I Dr. Kimberly Ling Murtaugh for “Trans Wealth: An Economic Justice Intervention for Trans and Nonbinary Persons with HIV,” building on their work with the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Trans Wellness Center.
• Dr. Wei-ti Chen received a CHRP grant for “Project CARE: Californians Access to Resources for Housing and Economic Security to Promote HIV Care,” continuing her partnership with APAIT/Special Service Group.
• Dr. Dvora Davey received an NIAAA R34 supplement for “A Community-based Adaptation of a Peer-led Intervention to Address Alcohol Use and HIV Risk in Pregnant Women in South Africa” with Drs. Amanda Miller and Tom Belin as co-investigators.
• Dr. Amanda Miller received an NIAAA K01 supplement for “Utilizing Implementation Research Methodologies to Adapt an Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Use and Improve HIV Care Outcomes among Men Living with HIV who have Serodiscordant Pregnant Partners.”
• Dr. Amanda Miller received an R01 grant for “Reducing hazardous alcohol use and optimizing treatment as prevention among men living with HIV in risk environments.”
• Dr. Laura Bogart received an R01 grant from NIMH for “Evaluation of PrEP Implementation Strategies for the General Population in Botswana,” with Drs. Mosepele Mosepele and Lisa Hirschhorn.
• Dr. Norweeta Milburn (Co-I) and Dr. Dawn Bounds (PI) received a NIDA R01 grant entitled, “Teaching Youth & Families Self-Regulation Skills to Disrupt the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences: Preventing Substance Use in Adversity-Impacted Youth.”
• Dr. Laura Bogart received an NIA R56 grant for “Social Connectedness, loneliness, and health among aging Black sexual minority men,” with MPI, Dr. Harold Green.
• Dr. Laura Bogart received an R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute for “A Hybrid Implementation-Effectiveness Trial of Game Changers for Cervical Cancer Prevention in Uganda,”  with Drs. Glenn Wagner and Rhoda Wanyenza.
• Dr. Gabriel Edwards received a UCLA-CDU CFAR administrative supplement with Dr. Nina Harawa for “HIV testing to PrEP Linkage in the Community – An Implementation Science Case Study in Los Angeles.”
• Dr. Pamina Gorbach received an NIDA R01 grant for “Race & Place: The Impacts of Racial Inequality on Substance Use and HIV Outcomes in Los Angeles,” with MPI Terrel Winder and Marjan Javanbakht focusing on racial inequality and health outcomes.
• Dr. Pamina Gorbach received an NIDA R01 grant for “Unraveling the intersection of substance use, inflammation, and HIV via hair levels,” with Dr. Monica Gandhi.
• Dr. Cathy Reback received an NIDA R01 grant for “Comparative- and Cost-effectiveness Research Determining the Optimal Intervention for Advancing Transgender Women Living with HIV to Full Viral Suppression,” with Drs. Raphael Landovitz and Michael Li.
• Dr. Nina Harawa received an NIDA R61/R33 grant for “California Hub for HIV/STI/SUD Prevention Research with Reentry Populations.”
• Dr. Kara Chew received an NIAID U01 grant for “A Phase 1/2a, randomized study of a Tfh-targeting genetic vaccine adjuvant designed to induce broad, durable immune responses.”
• Drs. Ian Holloway, Ayako Miyashita Ochoa, and Nina Harawa successfully renewed the Southern CA HIV/AIDS Policy Research Center, focusing on HIV-syndemic policy research in California.
• Drs. Sung-Jae Lee and Chunqing Lin (MPI) were funded a Fogarty Training Project entitled “Cutting-edge, Customized, and Comprehensive (CCC) HIV capacity building for Vietnam and Thailand” (D43TW012489) to enhance Hanoi Medical University and Chiang Mai University’s capacity in HIV for them to become the leader in HIV/AIDS control in Southeast Asia.

Published Papers:

• See a list of our 2024 publications. 

Additional Accomplishments:

• Dr. Sung-Jae Lee was appointed to co-lead the Health Equity and Translational Social Science (HETSS) Research Theme for the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM).
• Natalie Sanchez was invited by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) for a three-year term.
• Dr. Tom Coates was awarded the 2023-2024 Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professorship Award.
• Dr. Steve Shoptaw was awarded the Public Impact Research Award.
• Dr. Amanda Miller was selected as a finalist for the Enoch Gordis Postdoctoral Research Award.
• Drs. Sung-Jae Lee and Chunqing Lin hosted delegates from Chiang Mai University (Deans and Assistant Deans) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DGSOM to establish and strengthen the partnership between UCLA and CMU, in February 2024.

Additionally, we invite you to check out our photo gallery from the Year End Social that was held to recognize the accomplishments and efforts of our CHIPTS investigators throughout 2024.