Completed Studies
The Adolescent Trials Networks (ATN)
[03/01/2011 – 02/28/2016] Member of the Adolescent Medicine Leadership Group and the Community Prevention Leadership Group. Protocol Chair of protocol Structural And Partnership Factors Affecting Adherence To Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men and Protocol Member and Behavioral Lead of protocol Phase 2a Safety Study of a Vaginal Ring Containing Dapivirine in Adolescent Females MTN 023/IPM 030. Grant: NICHD 2U01 HD0400533-06 (Wilson).
The Microbicide Trials Network (MTN)
Part of the Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation, with affiliations to Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, the MTN was a worldwide collaborative clinical trials network that evaluates the safety and efficacy of microbicides designed to prevent HIV transmission. The mission of the MTN was to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV through the evaluation of microbicide products. The MTN conducted scientifically rigorous and ethically sound clinical trials that supported licensure of topical microbicide products. The MTN developed and/or executed 15 separate clinical trials of microbicides between 2006 and 2013. Established by the Division of AIDS of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in partnership with other collaborating institutes at the National Institute of Health, the MTN carried out its mission through a strong network of expert scientists and investigators from domestic and international sites. Dr. Gorbach was the member of the Behavioral Research Working Group and a behavioral investigator on the following MTN trials/studies: (1) [MTN 015] Observational Cohort Study of Women Following Seroconversion in Microbicide Trial; (2) [MTN 009] HIV Resistance at Screening for HIV Prevention Trials; and (3) [MTN 023] Evaluating Acceptability and Adherence to a Dapivirine Vaginal Ring in HIV Uninfected Adolescent Females.
Sexual Health of Performers Study (SHoPs)
[03/01/2011 – 02/01/2013] This study examined the prevalence of chlamydia and gonorrhea, and looked at the risk behaviors and sexual network characteristics of 350 adult film performers in Los Angeles County.
Commercial Lubricant Use and Risk of STI UCLA AIDS Institute
[02/01/2011 – 02/01/2012] Collaborating with Project AWARE, a large NIAID multi-site intervention trial based at nine STD clinics throughout the US, we obtained data on lubricant use through a web questionnaire. We analyzed associations of lubricant type and frequency of use with rectal gonorrhea and chlamydial infection.
Point of Care Telemedicine Units for Surveillance of Infectious Disease
[10/01/2010 – 06/30/2011] Working with Dr. Karin Nielsen from the Department of Pediatrics, this project utilized audio-computer assisted interviewing on handheld computers to assess high-risk behaviors among women in prenatal care in Brazil.
Transmission Behavior in Partnerships of Newly HIV Infected Southern Californians (MetroMates)
This study measured how transmission risks and partnership dynamics change over time among recently HIV-infected individuals and their partners; compared their behavioral patterns with those with chronic HIV infection and no HIV infection. It allowed for partnership level analyses because sexual partners were actively recruited. The study emphasized the role of drug use, especially methamphetamines, in affecting behaviors over time and how partnership dynamics interact with drug use to allow for HIV transmission.
CM-GALT Study
This pilot study compared HIV replication in Gut Tissue between men who were chronic Crystal Methamphetamine (CM) users to those who were not CM users in an effort to measure the effects of CM in this important immune system area. These data also assisted in identifying the specific biological and socio-behavioral outcomes related to chronic CM use.
Rectal Health, Behaviors and Microbicide Acceptability
This project was comprised of two studies designed to guide development of rectal microbicides by providing data on anal sex, anal health, and the acceptability of carrier methods for rectal microbicides. The first study assessed rectal health and behaviors among 896 men and women, including HIV positive and negative subjects in Los Angeles and Baltimore. The Los Angeles sites included the AIDS Research Association and the UCLA CARE clinic. The second study assessed acceptability of three rectal applicators.
In the Pipeline – Barriers to Enrollment in Research Registry for Microbicides Clinical Trials
This project, in collaboration with community partners Friends Research Institute and AIDS Project Los Angeles, was a cohort study of 450 men who have sex with men that helped develop educational materials for men about rectal microbicides; assessed the best format in which to deliver such information; identified barriers to microbicide trial participation by analyzing factors that facilitate enrollment in a microbicide trials registry; and measured STI and HIV incidence. To illustrate, please watch the video that was produced as a result of this study; it is available in both English and Spanish.
HIV/AIDS Risk Behaviors in Methamphetamine User Networks (Project FLOW)
This study of drug using MSM, drug using MSM/W, and non-drug using MSM and their male and female sexual partners examined the diffusion of HIV and STDs among drug users to identify the individual-level, partnership-level, and environmental factors that promote the spread of these diseases. Grant: NIDA; Los Angeles site of the Sexual Acquisition and Transmission of HIV Cooperative Agreement Program.
The Natural History of AIDS in Homosexual Men
[04/01/1993 – 03/31/2015] This study described the natural history of HIV/AIDS in homosexual/bisexual men and assessed the long-term effectiveness of HAART. Grant: NIAID/NCI U01 AI/CA035040 (Detels).
For more information, please contact Amy Ragsdale at aeragsdale@mednet.ucla.edu.