News
Current News
Visit to Central Asia
The Social Intervention Group’s Dr. Nabila El-Bassel and Louisa Gilbert and Dr. Geraldine Downey from CU’s Dept. of Psychology traveled to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to implement the introduction of the CU Global Health Research Center for Central Asia. The CU team met with government officials, national and international NGOs and department heads at several universities. In Kazakhstan, the team met with the Ministries of Health, Education, and Science and obtained full endorsement for the Center. The team also met with representative from USAID, World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, as well as other international local NGOs. The team made presentations at Al-Farabi University in Almaty and Eurasia University in Astana, Kazakhstan where faculty at these universities expressed strong interest in collaboration with the Global Health Research Center.
In Kyrgyzstan, the CU team met with the Vice Ministry of Health and international and local NGOs in Bishkek and Osh, all of which endorsed the CU Global Health Research Center.
Global Health Research Center for Central Asia
The Global Health Research Center for Central Asia was recently established in Almaty, Kazakhstan by SIG and the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP). The Center, which focuses on regional interdisciplinary research on global health, serves Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Funding for this Center was provided by CU and private foundations. The Center brings leading multidisciplinary, global health experts together and builds crosscutting partnerships among governments, NGOs, and academic institutions in Central Asia. The Center aims to strengthen the capacity of regional institutions and investigators to conduct rigorous global health research. The Center has three core activities: (1) Research and Training (2) Translation of Research into Practice and Policy and (3) Technical Assistance – Research Methods and Data Analysis Consultation. The Center is led by a team of top multidisciplinary experts on HIV and global health from the region and Columbia University. Dr. Assel Terlikbayeva directs the Center at our location in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Danil Nikitin directs the Center offices in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The Center’s aims are to:
- Advance effective regional health policies and programs that will improve early detection and treatment of global health problems in Central Asia
These aims will be accomplished through the Center’s core activities, which are outlined below.
Research and Training
- Increase the number of research scientists, faculty, and PhD and post doctoral students in the region who are able to conduct epidemiological, behavioral and social science research on global health issues in Central Asia. These local researchers will emerge as recognized leaders and have the capacity to compete for funding from NIH and other organizations.
- Provide faculty and researcher affiliates of the Center with technical assistance, consultation and administrative support for funded research that will advance knowledge on global health issues in the region.
Translation of Research into Effective Programs and Policy:
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Translate research into prevention and treatment programs, using proven methods of dissemination and “scaling up” of effective health interventions in different low resource, community based settings.
- Support multidisciplinary advocacy efforts to translate research into policies that result in reducing health disparities and expanding access to effective prevention, treatment and care for those affected by HIV/AIDS, HCV and STIs.
Technical Assistance
Women and Trauma, 2003-2007
The Women and Trauma Study is a NIDA, Clinical Trials Network funded national multi-site randomized clinical trial testing the effectiveness of Seeking Safety, an integrated behavioral intervention for women with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder, in seven community-based substance abuse treatment programs. Data collection was completed for this study in February 2007. The study enrolled 353 women in approximately 20-months. Dr. Hien, the PI of the Women and Trauma Study, will present primary outcome findings to the CTN Steering Committee in September 2007. Publications and presentations from this study can be found on the CTN Library website: http://ctndisseminationlibrary.org/
Dr. Elwin Wu of the Columbia University School of Social Work Receives a
$1.4 Million Grant from the NIDA
April, 2007 - Drs. El-Bassel and Wu received a National Institute of Mental Health grant to establish a 3-year training program aimed at increasing research and ethnic minority (REM) investigators in HIV intervention science research. The HIV Intervention Science Training Program for Minority Investigators (HISTP) will be located at CUSSW’s Social Intervention Group (SIG), but will include collaboration with other prominent Columbia Centers, including the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the New York Psychiatric Institute and the Columbia Center for Homelessness Prevention Studies. In addition to El-Bassel, Wu and colleagues at Columbia, the HISTP is supported by a network of leading HIV scientific advisors and mentors across country from over a dozen universities. The advisors and mentors are actively involved in the development of the program and in the direct training and support of the trainees.
REM populations are disproportionately represented amongst those living with HIV/AIDS, yet REM scientists trained as HIV/AIDS researchers are vastly under-represented. The HISTP mission is to facilitate the growth and development of a cadre of REM scientists who will focus their research upon HIV-related health disparities in HIV/AIDS and co-occurring mental health disorders. We seek to promote REM scientists to increase contributions to the empirical knowledge base on the design of contextually and culturally congruent interventions, through training, mentoring, and networking with a collective of senior REM scientists in the fields of HIV/AIDS, health disparities, and mental health and substance comorbidities. Specifically, 12 trainees will be selected over the next three years to receive intensive and specialized mentorship, including pilot funding and access to a multitude of resources and expert consultation. The first cohort of trainees will be selected in the summer of 2007.
For more information about the HIV Intervention Science Training Program for Minority Investigators, email histp@columbia.edu or call the Program Coordinator, Aimee Campbell, at 212-851-2417.
Connect With Pride: Finding a new avenue for HIV prevention
among MSM at high risk
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded
a 2 year grant for SIG to collaborate with the Harm Reduction
Coalition to develop and pilot test an innovative HIV and sexually
transmitted infection (HIV/STI) preventive intervention for African
American men who have sex with men (MSM). Following a decrease
in HIV incidence in the U.S. during the earlier decades of the
epidemic, HIV incidence has plateaued in more recent years.
The limited decrease in HIV incidence during recent years highlights
a need for continued vigilance as well as novel preventive intervention
programs. Male-to-male sexual contact continues to represent the
major conduit of HIV transmission. The need for continued innovation
in HIV prevention for MSM is underscored with the recent “rebound” in the proportion of new cases of HIV infection among MSM. Furthermore,
African Americans represent 12-13% of the population in the U.S.,
yet they account for about half of recent, new HIV infections,
and African Americans represent one-third of the cases of MSM
living with HIV/AIDS.
This project will adapt Project Connect--an existing, theoretically-driven,
and demonstrated efficacious couple-based HIV/STI preventive intervention
that was designed by SIG researchers for mixed-gender (i.e., a
male and female) couples--and tailor it for African American,
methamphetamine-involved male couples. This study will be carried
out in two phases. Year 1 focuses on the developmental activities
to adapt and refine the existing, manualized Connect intervention
in a systematic manner using focus groups. Year 2 involves a pilot
test of the revised intervention with in order to obtain preliminary
estimates of the efficacy of the intervention. If successful,
this study would constitute a strong foundation for future, larger-scale
studies that would more rigorously assess the efficacy of the
revised intervention in reducing HIV transmission risk among a
high risk population.
Past News
Asian Domestic Violence Conference
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement identified domestic violence as one of the most serious problems facing the Asian immigrant community. Although no systematic data collection is available to quantify severity of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the Asian community, there is evidence suggesting that Asians are over-represented in IPV fatalities (as reported by the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, the Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence, and Santa Clara County Death Review Committee).
Drs. Hien and Yoshioka (CUSSW), along with Drs. Jin and Chang of the Department of Psychology, New School for Social Research, hosted a 1-day conference entitled “Culture-Specific Interventions for Asian Batterers” on Friday, November 10, 2006. The event was sponsored by the CUSSW Social Intervention Group’s Center for Intervention and Prevention Research on HIV and Drug Abuse. Drs. Doris Chang, K. Daniel O’Leary (State University of New York, Stony Brook), Marianne Yoshioka, and David Adams (Emerge) presented on various topics related to applying empirically based and culturally specific interventions for Asian batterers. Speakers reviewed the current “state of the art” on empirically supported approaches and relevant theoretical models for working with male batterers in general, epidemiological data, and experiences with current community-based practices on domestic violence within Asian and Pacific Islander American communities. About 50 participants, including researchers, practitioners and students with a special interest in domestic violence in Asian and Pacific Islander American families, attended. Over a “working” lunch, participants shared their diverse perspectives in moderated small group discussions of barriers to implementing interventions with this subgroup which will also afford networking opportunities.
Norweigan Psychiatrists PTSD/SUD Training
On June 16, 2006, Columbia University School of Social Work, Social Intervention Group and Women’s Health Project Treatment & Research Center at St. Luke’s\Roosevelt Hospital Center, hosted a 1-day conference for 35 visiting Norwegian psychiatrists on the current advances in the field of behavioral treatment for women with trauma-focused disorders and PTSD. The workshop covered conceptual models and historical approaches to treatment, as well as a section on diagnostic issues with PTSD and Complex Trauma comorbidity. Psychotherapeutic treatment approaches emphasizing manualized cognitive behavioral therapies were also presented.
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