Office of the Senior Vice President for Research
Office of the Senior Vice President for Research

Public Health & HIV Surveillance

Advancing Ethical, Data-Driven HIV Care

HIV continues to present critical challenges for public health systems around the world. At Georgetown, we are developing conceptual frameworks and privacy-sensitive technologies that aim to improve health outcomes and inform ethical data use in HIV prevention, treatment, and care.

Our work is grounded in real-world collaboration with clinical and research partners and leverages longitudinal data and qualitative methods to examine how individuals navigate care over time.

NIH Pilot Project: Understanding the “Churn Effect”

Borrowing a concept from business, the “churn effect” describes how individuals move in and out of HIV care—often across geographic boundaries—seeking consistent treatment. Our research analyzes patterns of HIV care migration, helping identify groups most affected and highlighting the importance of care continuity to improve outcomes and reduce transmission risk.

DC-WIHS Project: Mapping HIV Treatment Careers

Overview
To better understand long-term care and treatment dynamics, we examined the HIV “treatment careers” of women enrolled in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) in the DC metro area from 1994 to 2012. These trajectories help identify barriers and facilitators to viral suppression and sustained care engagement.

Methods
Using data from women with more than four semiannual visits, we applied group-based logistic trajectory analysis to model patterns of viral suppression (<80 c/mL) and used generalized linear modeling with repeated measures to identify predictive factors.

Key Findings

Next Steps
We are conducting life course interviews and focus groups to explore the social and behavioral drivers behind these distinct treatment trajectories.

Outcomes

Project Team

Acknowledgments