Division of AIDS and Health and Behavior Research (DAHBR)
Overview
The Division of AIDS and Health and Behavior Research (DAHBR) supports research and research training to:
- Develop and disseminate behavioral interventions that prevent HIV/AIDS transmission.
- Clarify the pathophysiology and alleviate the neuropsychiatric consequences of HIV/AIDS infection.
- Use a public health model to reduce the burden of mental illness from medical comorbidities, non-adherence to treatment, societal stigma, health disparities, and unhealthy behaviors.
Within the Division, the Center for Mental Health Research on AIDS (CMHRA) is a fully integrated program supporting studies that range from the molecular and cellular basis of HIV/AIDS CNS infection to the domestic and international dissemination of effective preventative interventions. The program is grounded in a public health model that seeks the rapid translation of data from biological, behavioral, and epidemiological studies into interventions designed to prevent new HIV infections and limit morbidity and mortality among those infected. Using behavioral approaches effective in the HIV/AIDS arena, the Division also supports research on comorbidity between mental illness and general medical illness and translates basic behavioral and social science research into the study of stigma, health disparities, treatment adherence, and behavioral change factors influencing the onset and course of mental illness.
Areas of High Priority
- Identify basic behavioral processes (such as cognition, emotion, decision-making, and motivation) that determine health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diet, exercise, adherence) among people with mental disorders in order to develop interventions to improve functional outcomes and reduce morbidity and mortality.
- Identify the basic behavioral and social processes in stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and develop effective programs and approaches to reduce or even eliminate stigma.
- Support innovative, interdisciplinary HIV prevention research designed to better understand individual, dyadic, community, social, and structural factors that impact HIV risk-reduction in order to improve sustained preventive behaviors.
- Conduct research on expeditious technology transfer of preventive interventions for HIV-positive persons in treatment and other settings, with a focus on diffusion, translation, effectiveness and operational research in order to bridge research and practice.
- Support studies to assess the neurologic, neuropsychiatric, and neuropathologic consequences of HIV in the current therapeutic context, particularly in international and resource-poor settings, in order to develop new therapeutic interventions to prevent or reverse these complications.
- Support innovative, interdisciplinary prevention science research designed to better understand the psychosocial needs of children affected by AIDS, particularly in low-resource settings.
Ellen L. Stover, Ph.D.
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 6217, MSC 9621
301-443-9700, estover@mail.nih.gov