UAA Behavioral Health Research and Services awarded $2.96 million grant to examine the ethics of conducting HIV AIDS research in prisons
by Kathleen McCoy |
The National Institute on Drug Abuse recently awarded UAA Behavioral Health Research and Services $2.96 million over five years to conduct a research project titled, HIV, Drugs and Prisoners: Barriers to Epidemiologic and Intervention Research. The award, a Research Project Grant, is one of the most prestigious grants that can be awarded by the National Institutes of Health.
UAA's Dr. Gloria Eldridge and Dr. Mark Johnson will implement this large, national
investigation with collaborators from the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University
of Alabama Birmingham, George Washington University and Centerforce, a prisoner advocacy
organization. With 80 to 95 percent of prisoners having drug abuse histories and
with HIV/AIDS rates in prisons three times higher than in the general population,
correctional systems represent an important avenue for research to stem the HIV/AIDS
epidemic in the United States.
Through this grant, Drs. Eldridge and Johnson will explore the ethical challenges
of conducting HIV research in correctional settings. Research with prisoners, especially
those with added vulnerabilities of substance use and/or HIV/AIDS, poses complex ethical
challenges and responsibilities because prisoners are considered a vulnerable population.
As part of the research, BHRS staff and faculty will interview and survey national
researchers, prison administrators, prisoner advocates, research ethicists and members
of Institutional Review Boards from across the United States. It is expected that
the project will result in an increased understanding of the ethical challenges and
solutions in HIV/AIDS research with prisoners and will reduce barriers to much needed
epidemiologic and intervention research in correctional settings.
UAA's BHRS is a group of researchers, providers and educators that is dedicated to
the behavioral and physical health of all members of the community. It provides a
variety of services that are helpful to care providers, administrators and policy
makers in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, physical health and criminal
justice.
For more information on BHRS and this research project, please contact Drs. Gloria
Eldridge and Mark Johnson at (907) 561-2880 or visit http://bhrs.uaa.alaska.edu .