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Young injection drug users (IDU) constitute a distinctive high risk and understudied group with high rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The Acute UFO study has identified 135 incident HCV infections, 95 of which are being followed prospectively. In this study we are: Studying the epidemiology of acute HCV infection. Assessing immunological responses to acute HCV (the spectrum of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses and evolution within CTL targets (“epitopes”) to identify early correlates of viral resolution. Examining HCV transmission and risk behavior among injecting partnerships using epidemiological and molecular virology methods. Assessing candidacy and factors to facilitate access to early antiviral treatment for acute HCV

UFO Presents! is a CDC-funded program aimed at the meeting the broader needs of youth and young adults with injection risk. We will provide hepatitis prevention and care education, and develop and implement programmatic materials for hepatitis C virus (HCV) counseling and education. Educational materials and protocols are being developed with input from community groups in health care, HIV and HCV prevention, and with input from young IDU who are accessing the program. The program will:

• Increase hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination in young adult IDU.
• Increase the capacity of public health professionals to perform risk reduction counseling and service delivery to prevent new HCV infections in young adult IDU.
• Educate current young adult IDU at increased risk for HCV infection.
• Counsel persons with acute and chronic HCV infection and refer them for medical management.

UFO Presents! is an exciting program aimed at young IDU in San Francisco, CA and is accessed at locations in the Tenderloin and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhoods.

This research investigates the relationship between social networks, social support, and HIV-related risk behavior among young African American MSM who participate in the Ballroom community. The Ballroom community consists of houses, figurative and sometimes literal homes, for queer youth of color, and the elaborate balls they host and compete in. The Ballroom community exists in urban centers across the US, and provides African American queer youth with support for same-sex desire and identity, along with multiple forms of support for HIV prevention. This research looks at the forms of social support that young men receive through their involvement in the community, particularly with regard to HIV-related risk behavior. The study will be carried out in three phases:

1. An ethnographic phase to determine the forms social networks and social support take with young. African American MSM in the Ballroom community,
2. A phase to develop and adapt appropriate scales of social networks and social support for a young  African American MSM population, and
3. A cross sectional survey of social networks within young African American MSM Ballroom communities to determine the association of social networks and social support with HIV-related risk behavior.

The data accumulated during this study will be used as the basis for developing an intervention tailored specifically to the Ballroom community. Approximately 300 young African American MSM will be recruited into the study, which will take place in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This study is a collaboration between CAPS and the California Prevention and Education Project (CAL-PEP) in Oakland, CA, with valuable contributions from our research consultant at Brown University. Our collaborative research team has spent the past three years developing and testing the acceptability and feasibility of the Bruthas Project, an enhanced HIV counseling intervention focused on African American men who have sex with men and women (MSMW), as part of a community collaborative research project funded by the California HIV/AIDS Research Program (CHRP). Our team works out of a shared understanding that service providers, researchers, and community members must work collaboratively to create solutions that can mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS in the African American community. This study rigorously tests the Bruthas Project in a randomized controlled trial, comparing the Bruthas Project to a standard program involving HIV counseling and testing, and referral to general case management services. A sample of 400 African American MSMW who do not identify as gay will be recruited from the San Francisco Bay Area. After receiving HIV counseling and testing, half will be randomly assigned to the enhanced intervention condition and half will be randomly assigned to the standard program. All participants will complete baseline, post-intervention, and three-month post intervention behavioral risk assessments using an audio computer-assisted interview (ACASI) that has been specifically developed for this population. The Bruthas Project consists of four enhanced counseling intervention sessions:

• Session 1 - HIV testing and behavioral risk reduction counseling.
• Session 2 - Risk and dynamics with female partners.
• Session 3 - Risk and dynamics with male partners.
• Session 4 - Motivators, personal justifications and context for high risk sex

This project will test the efficacy of a community-level intervention (an adaptation of the Mpowerment Project) in reducing sexual risk behavior and increasing testing among young Black men who have sex with men. We will implement the Black Mpowerment Project for two years in Dallas, TX. Houston, TX will be the comparison community. We will conduct cross-sectional surveys of young Black men who have sex with men before and after the intervention in both communities to determine the efficacy of the intervention in:

• Reducing the proportion and frequency of sexual behaviors that are likely to transmit HIV, including reducing the number of sex partners.
• Increasing the proportion of men who know their HIV serostatus.
• Modifying psychosocial mediating variables that may be related to HIV risk reduction.
• Changing psychosocial factors that are indicators of positive mental health and well-being.

Additionally, we will conduct process evaluations of the intervention to assess how the Black Mpowerment Project is implemented and to assess the perceptions of the project at both the individual- and community-level. We will also look for changes in sexually transmitted infection rates in both communities.