News: HIV Intervention

The National Institute of Drug Abuse division of the National Institutes of Health has announced funding for a new training program on bio-socio-behavioral HIV and drug abuse prevention, treatment, and care in the U.S. criminal justice system, with Professors Nabila El-Bassel of our School and Professor Linda R. Metsch at the Mailman School serving as lead investigators.

Jan Carl Park, the guest speaker at our event honoring World AIDS Day 2013, gave a moving introduction about a friend of his lost to the disease. The full text in available here, along with highlights from the rest of his talk—about New York City’s attempts to reduce infections by 2015, in line with National HIV/AIDS strategy.

In time for World AIDS Day, the international journal “Drug and Alcohol Dependence” has published a special issue on the AIDS crisis in Central Asia, guest-edited by Willma and Albert Musher Professor Nabila El-Bassel and two public health experts—a first.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Elwin Wu for being awarded tenure by Columbia University! Dr. Wu’s scholarship has been dedicated to constructing social interventions that address the specific syndemics of HIV, drug involvement, and interpersonal violence.

Trélan Holder (MS’06) is the president-elect of the CUSSW Alumni Association. In this interview, she tells us why she came to Columbia and what she hopes to achieve during her tenure.

To reach the goal of “zero AIDS” in our lifetime, more provider-research partnerships are needed, argues Professor Rogério Meireles Pinto.

Professor Nabila El-Bassel wonders whether policy makers who have set the zero AIDS goal are accounting for the unique situation of at-risk women and girls—a population that historically has not received as much attention as other key groups.