Professor awarded over $2 million for HIV/STD research
Dolcini has been researching HIV/STD prevention for more than 20 years
Katrina Lorengel
Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: News
By Katrina Lorengel
The Daily Barometer
Peggy Dolcini, OSU researcher and assistant professor in the department of public health, plans to continue her national HIV/STD prevention research after receiving more than $2 million in grants.
"Adolescent sexual health is an important topic," Dolcini said. "Part of my interest in it came from living in the middle of an HIV epicenter. Primary prevention is the most important approach."
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 awarded the first grant to Dolcini in the amount of $1.2 million. The ARRA is an economic stimulus package that provides funding for research and development to universities.
The goal of this research is to measure how effective a community-based HIV and STD prevention program by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been. OSU is using the ARRA grant to develop new technologies, strengthen its research and train scientists, students and engineers.
In Oregon there have been 1,841 grants given out by ARRA, according to recovery.gov. The ARRA was signed by President Obama on Feb. 19. This grant is part of the translational research focused on moving researchers from the lab into the field.
"We want to know how well this intervention is being delivered in the field," Dolcini said. "We want to see if this program is being delivered in ways that truly meet the needs of the community."
OSU public health professor Joseph Catania and associate public health professor Stephanie Bernell will be helping with the research.
The second grant of $1.3 million, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, will be used to research HIV and STD prevention among African American teens in Chicago and San Francisco.
AIDS is the leading cause of death in African-American women between the ages of 25 to 34, according to Avert, an international HIV and AIDS charity that works to avert HIV and AIDS by promoting education, care and treatment. African-Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population, yet of the one million people living with AIDS in the U.S., approximately half of them are African-American.
Dolcini's three-year study will analyze gender roles and try to understand social and environmental factors.
"Every step moves research in expected and unexpected ways," Dolcini said. "New studies provide new knowledge which can help our research."
Dolcini hopes the research will help develop gender-specific HIV prevention in four or five years.
Dolcini has been working in the field of HIV/STD prevention for more than 20 years and has received numerous honors and grants. She is also included in several publications dealing with adolescent health, sexual behavior, HIV/STD prevention and gender differences.
On Nov. 18, as part of Transgender Week at OSU, there will be a series of monologues to show different ways HIV is contracted. The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in MU room 213.
Katrina Lorengel, staff writer
737-2231, news@dailybarometer.com
The Daily Barometer
Peggy Dolcini, OSU researcher and assistant professor in the department of public health, plans to continue her national HIV/STD prevention research after receiving more than $2 million in grants.
"Adolescent sexual health is an important topic," Dolcini said. "Part of my interest in it came from living in the middle of an HIV epicenter. Primary prevention is the most important approach."
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 awarded the first grant to Dolcini in the amount of $1.2 million. The ARRA is an economic stimulus package that provides funding for research and development to universities.
The goal of this research is to measure how effective a community-based HIV and STD prevention program by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been. OSU is using the ARRA grant to develop new technologies, strengthen its research and train scientists, students and engineers.
In Oregon there have been 1,841 grants given out by ARRA, according to recovery.gov. The ARRA was signed by President Obama on Feb. 19. This grant is part of the translational research focused on moving researchers from the lab into the field.
"We want to know how well this intervention is being delivered in the field," Dolcini said. "We want to see if this program is being delivered in ways that truly meet the needs of the community."
OSU public health professor Joseph Catania and associate public health professor Stephanie Bernell will be helping with the research.
The second grant of $1.3 million, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, will be used to research HIV and STD prevention among African American teens in Chicago and San Francisco.
AIDS is the leading cause of death in African-American women between the ages of 25 to 34, according to Avert, an international HIV and AIDS charity that works to avert HIV and AIDS by promoting education, care and treatment. African-Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population, yet of the one million people living with AIDS in the U.S., approximately half of them are African-American.
Dolcini's three-year study will analyze gender roles and try to understand social and environmental factors.
"Every step moves research in expected and unexpected ways," Dolcini said. "New studies provide new knowledge which can help our research."
Dolcini hopes the research will help develop gender-specific HIV prevention in four or five years.
Dolcini has been working in the field of HIV/STD prevention for more than 20 years and has received numerous honors and grants. She is also included in several publications dealing with adolescent health, sexual behavior, HIV/STD prevention and gender differences.
On Nov. 18, as part of Transgender Week at OSU, there will be a series of monologues to show different ways HIV is contracted. The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in MU room 213.
Katrina Lorengel, staff writer
737-2231, news@dailybarometer.com
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