Social Processes of AIDS Training Program at UConn

Congratulations to Nicole Overstreet, assistant professor of psychology at Clark University, for the award of a $100,000 research grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation!
The grant will support Dr. Overstreet in examining the needs of those affected by intimate partner violence.

Read the full story here: http://news.clarku.edu/news/2015/08/28/clark-psychology-researcher-receives-100k-from-robert-wood-johnson-foundation/

"As much as I'm glad to see any depiction of HIV in movies or television, I find myself wondering, where's the modern story about HIV? Where is an HIV story being told that doesn't end in a horrible death? How come no one is writing a story where someone has HIV, and it isn't the main thing about him/her? And where, maybe, the HIV+ person is actually happy?

Society desperately needs to see a fresh image of HIV. Despite the fact that the people with HIV can live healthy, normal lives, the negative stigma around people with HIV is incredibly powerful and prevalent. People need to be reminded, like my sweet friend reminded me 12 years ago, that we're not living in the hopeless times of the 80's and 90's."

Where Is the Modern HIV Story? Society desperately needs to see a fresh image of HIV. Despite the fact that the people with HIV can live healthy, normal lives, the negative stigma around people with HIV is incredibly powerful and prevalent.

Devon Price, a second year social psychology doctoral student and Trainee, spent her summer volunteering as a research intern with the Whitman Walker Clinic in Washington DC. The Whitman Walker Clinic is one of the world’s premier AIDS service providers. During this experience, Devon worked within Whitman Walker’s Research Department where she was involved in examining previous research trials to determine what studies had been done in the past to inform future directions. The studies ranged from pharmaceutical company sponsored research, including vaccine trials and behavioral science focused studies. She also worked on a behavioral sciences team that was conducting two major observational cohort studies to better understand the HIV epidemic in Washington. Devon even obtained training in community outreach and attended community events in which Whitman Walker offers free HIV testing, counseling and education. As part of the volunteer team she engaged people who were at high risk for HIV infection and offered them HIV testing and educational services. Congratulations Devon for using your research skills to make a difference in the community!

Welcome to our new Social Processes of AIDS Graduate Students! Aerielle Allen, Gabriel Camacho, and Matthew Sullivan will be joining us at the start of the Fall 2015 semester.

Obama speaks on an updated strategy for minimizing HIV/AIDS in America for 2020 - we have come a long way from when the program was implemented in 2010, but there is still more work to be done!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-jarrett/2020-vision-our-updated-n_b_7903864.html

2020 Vision: Our Updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy The Updated Strategy will enable our nation to become a place where new HIV infections are rare, and where every affected person will have access to life-extending care, regardless of their circumstances.

David Kenny, Lisa Eaton, and Seth Kalichman outside the Bousfield Psychology Building
Photo accompanies article 'Psychology Research Earns Second Spot in Nation' by Corinna Balash Kerr from UConn Today.

Read full article here: http://today.uconn.edu/2010/09/psychology-research-earns-second-spot-in-nation/