UAA Behavioral Health Research and Services awarded $2.96 million grant to examine the ethics of conducting HIV AIDS research in prisons

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 .