Cathy J. Reback, PhD

Cathy J. Reback, PhD, is a Senior Research Scientist with Friends Research Institute and the Director of the Combination Prevention Core for the UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services. Additionally, Dr. Reback is the Founder and Executive Director of Friends Community Center the community-based site for Friends Research Institute, which provides publically funded, culturally responsive, substance use and HIV prevention services for sexual and gender minority individuals. The focus of Dr. Reback’s research is an examination of the intersection of substance use disorders and HIV risk behaviors among sexual and gender minority individuals in community settings. Dr. Reback has an extensive background in conducting community-research collaborations, managing large-scale HIV prevention and intervention programs, designing and implementing technology-based and mHealth interventions, designing and implementing venue- and street-based intervention programs, evaluating behavioral and biomedical treatment therapies for populations with substance use and mental health disorders, and conducting mixed methods research studies. Additionally, she has collaborated with several local community-based organizations to adopt, tailor, and transfer evidenced-based interventions into public health and community settings. Dr. Reback’s community and policy work includes current and past membership on numerous local and national HIV/AIDS and substance use task forces and advisory committees.

Contact: reback@friendsresearch.org

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Swendeman, D.Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Arnold, E. M., Fernández, M. I., Comulada, W. S., Ishimoto, K., Gertsch, W., Murphy, D. A., Ocasio, M., Lee, S. J., Lewis, K. A., & Adolescent HIV Medicine Trials Network (ATN) CARES Team (2024). Strategies to Facilitate Service Utilization Among Youth at Risk for HIV: A Randomized Controlled Trial (ATN 149). AIDS and behavior, 10.1007/s10461-024-04545-2. Advance online publication.


2. Reback, C. J., Cain, D., Rusow, J. A., Benkeser, D., Schader, L., Gwiazdowski, B. A., Skeen, S. J., Hannah, M., Belzer, M., Castillo, M., Mayer, K. H., Paul, M. E., Hill-Rorie, J., Johnson, N. D., McAvoy-Banerjea, J., Sanchez, T., Hightow-Weidman, L. B., Sullivan, P. S., & Horvath, K. J. (2024). Technology-Based Interventions, with a Stepped Care Approach, for Reducing Sexual Risk Behaviors and Increasing PrEP Initiation Among Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth and Young Adults. AIDS and behavior, 28(12), 3956–3969.


3. Reback, C. J., Landovitz, R. J., Benkeser, D., Jalali, A., Shoptaw, S., Li, M. J., Mata, R. P., Ryan, D., Jeng, P. J., & Murphy, S. M. (2024). Protocol for a randomized controlled trial with a stepped care approach, utilizing PrEP navigation with and without contingency management, for transgender women and sexual minority men with a substance use disorder: Assistance Services Knowledge-PrEP (A.S.K.-PrEP). Addiction science & clinical practice, 19(1), 79.

Last updated: 1/17/2024

Raphael J. Landovitz, MD, MSc

Raphael LandovitzMDMSc, is Professor of Medicine at the UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research & Education. He is also the Center Co-Director of CHIPTS. He has led combination prevention intervention studies and projects using Post-Exposure (PEP) and Pre-Exposure (PrEP) strategies for MSM and TGW, as well as being part of leadership groups of the DAIDS-funded AIDS Clinical Trial Groups (ACTG), HIV Prevention Trial Network (HPTN), and former adolescent Trial Network (ATN). He recently completed a term as chair of the ACTG Antiretroviral Strategies Scientific Committee, is the principal investigator of two multisite PrEP demonstration project in Los Angeles County, and leads the NIH/DAIDS-funded Phase 2 and Phase 3 registrational clinical trials evaluating long-acting injectable Cabotegravir for PrEP. He serves on the Executive Committee of the HIV Prevention Trials Network, and was awarded the HIVMA HIV Research Award in 2017. His research agenda focuses on the optimization of the use of antiretroviral medication for both HIV treatment and HIV prevention.

Contact: rlandovitz@mednet.ucla.edu

 

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Delany-Moretlwe, S., Hanscom, B., Guo, X., Nkabiito, C., Mandima, P., Nahirya, P. N., Mpendo, J., Bhondai-Mhuri, M., Mgodi, N., Berhanu, R., Farrior, J., Piwowar-Manning, E., Ford, S. L., Hendrix, C. W., Rinehart, A. R., Rooney, J. F., Adeyeye, A., Landovitz, R. J., Cohen, M. S., Hosseinipour, M. C., … HPTN 084 Study Team (2025). Evaluation of long-acting cabotegravir safety and pharmacokinetics in pregnant women in eastern and southern Africa: a secondary analysis of HPTN 084. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 28(1), e26401.

2. Edupuganti, S., Hurt, C. B., Stephenson, K. E., Huang, Y., Paez, C. A., Yu, C., Yen, C., Hanscom, B., He, Z., Miner, M. D., Gamble, T., Heptinstall, J., Seaton, K. E., Domin, E., Lin, B. C., McKee, K., Doria-Rose, N., Regenold, S., Spiegel, H., Anderson, M., … HVTN 136/HPTN 092 Study Team (2025). Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and neutralisation activities of the anti-HIV-1 monoclonal antibody PGT121.414.LS administered alone and in combination with VRC07-523LS in adults without HIV in the USA (HVTN 136/HPTN 092): a first-in-human, open-label, randomised controlled phase 1 trial. The lancet. HIV, 12(1), e13–e25.


3. Gandhi, R. T., Landovitz, R. J., Sax, P. E., Smith, D. M., Springer, S. A., Günthard, H. F., Thompson, M. A., Bedimo, R. J., Benson, C. A., Buchbinder, S. P., Crabtree-Ramirez, B. E., Del Rio, C., Eaton, E. F., Eron, J. J., Jr, Hoy, J. F., Lehmann, C., Molina, J. M., Jacobsen, D. M., & Saag, M. S. (2024). Antiretroviral Drugs for Treatment and Prevention of HIV in Adults: 2024 Recommendations of the International Antiviral Society-USA Panel. JAMA, 10.1001/jama.2024.24543. Advance online publication.

Last updated: 1/16/2025