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University of Tampa’s Yan Guo, assistant professor of health sciences and human performance, received a grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project aiming to improve usage of the HIV prevention medication PrEP among high-risk individuals.

Guo is the lead investigator on the project and is collaborating with faculty from City University of New York and University of California San Francisco. The NIH grant, the second Guo has received in her career, is expected to provide her $141,357.15 over the next five years.

The sample population for the study is men who have sex with men (MSM) who also use methamphetamines, as Guo said this demographic has a high prevalence of non-adherence to medication like PrEP. PrEP, which stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis, is taken as a daily oral pill to prevent HIV.

The study will begin with participants using the urine test tenofovir to determine whether they properly take their PrEP medication. Guo explained that the test, which was developed by the collaborating researchers at UCSF, is preferred by healthcare providers over self-reporting, as it gives them objective results. If results are positive, indicating adherence to the medication, the healthcare providers will follow up by encouraging the participants to continue their routine. If results are negative, indicating non-adherence, the providers will follow up with motivational interviews to find out what the barriers are and how they can improve adherence.

Before Guo started at ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°åampa in Fall 2024, she conducted a similar study while working at CUNY, looking for PrEP adherence specifically among MSM without additional variables. She found evidence that the motivational interviews with participants who were non-adherent were effective in encouraging proper medication use. For the current study, she wanted to apply the same method to an even higher-risk population, and she is able to pull from the same participant pool at CUNY, which includes more than 2,000 individuals who meet the criteria.

The NIH, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency dedicated to seeking fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.