Scientific Working Group
The HIV epidemic continues to pose significant challenges, with inequities in progress evident in the St. Louis area and Missouri at large. Many populations are not benefitting from the effective prevention and treatment initiatives that have been developed in recent years. People of color are disproportionately impacted by HIV, with cases 8.3 times higher in African Americans, and 3.3 times higher in Hispanics than in white populations. Missouri's rural regions face elevated risks of HIV outbreaks, and people who live there must travel farther than city-dwellers to access quality health services.
To address these urgent issues, the Midwest D-CFAR’s Scientific Working Group on Neglected Populations in HIV (SWG) is establishing a collaborative community involving academics, regional stakeholders, and community-based partners to conduct pragmatic, community-engaged, and stakeholder-embedded research targeted towards neglected populations affected by HIV. The goal of the SWG is to encourage multidisciplinary collaboration among researchers, trainees, and community partners. By stimulating new programming in specific scientific areas critical to addressing the HIV epidemic, the SWG aims to align with and advance the NIH HIV/AIDS priority areas. The SWG is creating unique opportunities that combine the expertise of groups with lived/practitioner experience in HIV treatment and prevention with that of academic medical center researchers. We expect this inclusive approach will lead to a substantial increase in novel research proposals, ultimately advancing efforts to combat HIV and improve health services for underserved communities.
We would love for you to join us as part of the SWG research collaborative! If you are interested, let us know by filling out this form.
Core Team
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Michael Durkin, MD, MPH
DIRECTOR
Washington University in St. Louis Research: Ryan White style care, opioid use disorder, stigma reduction, unhoused individuals, harm reduction
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Dima Dandachi, MD, MPH
CO-DIRECTOR
University of Missouri Research: PrEP, unhoused people with HIV, long-acting antiretrovirals, community engagement, telehealth
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Kneeshe Parkinson
COORDINATOR
Washington University in St. Louis
Interests: HIV advocacy, community engagement, health equity, public health initiatives, youth empowerment
SWG Activities
Community Collaborative
The Midwest D-CFAR Community Collaborative is developing a shared vision for a community and practitioner-responsive research agenda. Collaborative members will also serve as potential grant partners for academic researchers. Learn more.
Community-Academic Research Incubator
The research agenda developed through the Collaborative will serve as the core goals of our future research aims. We will work with both academic investigators and our community and practitioner partners to develop novel collaborative community-based research projects. This incubator program provides support, mentoring, and coordination to turn ideas into tangible novel community-based research projects that can be submitted as . proposals to the Midwest D-CFAR pilot funding mechanisms that prioritize partnerships administered by the Developmental Core.