The Social Intervention Group (SIG)

We're hiring! The TechMPower team is seeking two program coordinators to support the implementation of a comprehensive bundle of evidence-based strategies that will enhance the effective delivery of interventions for both HIV and substance use disorder. Learn more and apply now: https://bit.ly/3YebseP

A new study from SIG and Global Health Research Center of Central Asia presents the first multi-city empirical data on HIV and STI prevalence among trans and nonbinary people in Kazakhstan, shedding light on critical gaps in access to testing and care.

"This study is a demonstration of our strength and persistence. Trans people in Kazakhstan continue to create meaning, love, and community despite facing danger and hatred. Our survival is not just resistance—it’s brilliance," said Sultana Valentina Kali, Research Assistant and advocate from Almaty’s trans community.

Read more about this groundbreaking research: https://bit.ly/4qOgzQ1

We're hiring! Join the TechMPower project team as a full-time Project Director and support an important study of overdose prevention and HIV prevention and treatment. Learn more and apply now: https://bit.ly/3JQ5m0F

On November 18, join Timothy Hunt, Victoria Frye, and Sheriff Juan Figueroa to hear about lessons from the HEALing Communities Study and TechMPower that can improve HIV and substance use disorder care for people during re-entry, a time of high risk for relapse, overdose, and HIV infection. Presented by SIG and CHOSEN, this webinar will highlight evidence based strategies developed and tested through community-engaged research.

Register now: sig.columbia.edu/re-entry

Survivors of s*x trafficking have high rates of substance use disorder and HIV, but often face barriers to care. By engaging survivors to develop a crowdsourced intervention, SIG's Dr. Alissa Davis and PhD student Madison Bogard hope to increase access to IV/STI/HCV testing and overdose prevention kit utilization among survivors living in New York City.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3W8hNYn

In the new WINGS+++ study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Dawn Goddard-Eckrich Ed.D Goddard-Eckrich, along with Drs. Nabila El-Bassel and Louisa Gilbert, seeks to address the lack of evidence-based interventions that identify intimate partner violence and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among women with opioid use disorder or substance use disorder and link them to appropriate services.

"Our ultimate goal is to better understand how to support women facing these multiple, interconnected challenges while reducing overdose deaths and improving outcomes across the full spectrum of issues they face," said PI Dr. Goddard-Eckrich of the new research.

Read more: https://bit.ly/477hTFP

In a new NIH-funded study, SIG scholars Fernando Montero and Nabila El-Bassel will advance access to supply-side harm reduction in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. The 3-year grant will support them as they work with Puerto Rican and Black people who sell drugs to design and pilot a drug overdose and HIV prevention intervention. With the study, they aim to reverse the historical exclusion of people who sell drugs from public health research and harm reduction interventions.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4mfAunI

A recent paper from HEALing Communities Study researchers, highlighted by Addiction Policy Forum, shows that the HEALing Communities Study was associated with a significant increase in the number of jails in participating communities providing overdose education and delivery of naloxone to individuals returning from incarceration.

“These findings underscore the success of the HCS Communities That HEAL intervention in increasing both naloxone delivery and overdose education and the value of engaging local coalitions to work with correctional facilities and integrate OEND into correctional health services. By empowering communities, aligning with evidence-based practices, and leveraging flexible models of care, this community-engaged approach can save lives at one of the most dangerous transition points for individuals with SUD," said Timothy Hunt, the paper's first author.

Read more from Addiction Policy Forum: http://bit.ly/4mY4aa1

In a new paper from Implementation Science, University Professor Nabila El-Bassel, Dr. Tian Zheng, and a team of interdisciplinary researchers from Columbia University unveiled a framework that reimagines how artificial intelligence can be ethically and effectively used in community-engaged public health research. Building on SIG's HEALing Communities Study research, the new framework demonstrates how can be used not only to analyze large datasets but also to co-design, monitor, and adapt interventions with communities in real time. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3GAhb9K

Launched this week, the Social Intervention Group's new Artificial Intelligence for Social Good (AISG) initiative brings together leading scholars from around Columbia University to transform how we confront some of the world's most pressing social and public health issues. Led by SIG Director Nabila El-Bassel, Statistics Department Chair Tian Zheng, Columbia University Information Technology AVP Maneesha Agrawal, and a dedicated team from SIG, AISG will bridge the gap between academic research and real-world systems, accelerating the translation of community-engaged, AI-powered research into policy and practice.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3GAhb9K

At Continuum 2025, hosted by the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, SIG Co-Director Dr. Victoria Frye and doctoral student Madison Xiaoyao Bogard presented important research from ENVIO, an NIH-funded sequential mixed-methods study examining how intimate partner violence, community violence, and structural violence relate to HIV-care-related outcomes among young minority gay, bis*xual, and other men who have s*x with men living with HIV. https://bit.ly/4nqHIXw

In a new paper from the HEALing Communities Study, researchers break down the costs of the comprehensive opioid overdose intervention, including detailing the costs of the various components and accounting for time and opportunity costs. With this information, communities around the country considering opioid overdose interventions can make informed decisions about the cost of those measures.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4k8ehrl