New INSPIRE Center aims to transform HIV prevention and treatment for young people in LMICs

Elvin Geng, MD, MPH, and Juliet Iwelunmor, PhD

WashU has been awarded a Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant to establish the Innovative Network on the Science and Practice of Implementation, Research, and Engagement (INSPIRE) Center. Poised to transform HIV prevention and treatment for adolescents and young adults (AYA) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), INSPIRE is led by Drs. Juliet Iwelunmor and Elvin Geng, WashU professors and co-directors of the Midwest D-CFAR, alongside Dr. Joseph Tucker, professor at the University of North Carolina. This initiative is part of the broader Prevention and Treatment through a Comprehensive Care Continuum for HIV-affected Adolescents in Resource-Constrained Settings Network (PATC3H-IN).

The INSPIRE Center seeks to adapt, scale, and sustain evidence-based interventions that reduce HIV inequities for AYA while optimizing the translation of research findings into real-world impact. INSPIRE will collaborate with researchers, policymakers, program implementers, and adolescents and their caregivers in six countries—Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, and Tanzania—through its Capacity Supporting Core, Advanced Methods and Modeling Core, and Community Engagement and Dissemination Core to support global efforts to end the HIV epidemic among young people by using strategies based on Appreciative Inquiry (a strengths-based approach).

“We’re looking beyond barriers and tapping into the potential assets that already exists within these adolescents and young people themselves. Our work is about elevating their insights as well as those of key partners often under-represented in research to foster a lasting change that improves health outcomes for millions of young people.”

Juliet Iwelunmor, PhD, co-director of the INSPIRE Center

Geng notes that the Center will create synergies between research and real-world impact.

“INSPIRE is designed to bring together diverse perspectives from across the network to refine, scale, and sustain interventions that will reduce health inequities in HIV prevention and care.”

Elvin Geng, MD, co-director of the INSPIRE Center

Through cutting-edge training, advanced methods and modeling, and a shared community engagement strategy, INSPIRE presents a transformative opportunity to share knowledge while re-aligning current thinking in implementation science research in LMICs.

Written by Jacaranda van Rheenen.