Fenway Institute faculty members will be presenting at this year’s International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference in Mexico City July 21-24. The IAS Conference is the largest open scientific conference on HIV science in the world.
Kenneth Mayer, MD, Medical Research Director at The Fenway Institute, is both moderating and presenting at IAS. He will present the poster “Longer term PrEP users in a Boston community health center: Sociodemographic factors and PrEP persistence.” The study analyzed the socio-demographic characteristics of long term PrEP users (LTPU) compared to those with lesser periods of use, which may inform interventions to promote PrEP persistence. Mayer co-authored the paper along with Kenneth Levine, MPH; Chris Grasso, MPH; Douglas Krakower, MD; and Julia Marcus, PhD, MPH.
Dr. Mayer will also present during a symposium session titled “The 10-10-10: How to address syndemics among those left behind in the 90-90-90 targets to end the HIV epidemic.”In this workshop, presentations will focus on the complexities of the most challenging people to reach and keep engaged in HIV care, due to co-morbid mental disorders, substance use, STIs, and other barriers such as poverty, interpersonal violence, and social exclusion.
Additionally, Dr. Mayer will serve as moderator for two sessions: “Highlights from JIAS’s latest clinical and epidemiology research publications” and “Hot off the press: What’s new in HIV prevention.”
Fenway Institute Associate Research Scientist Wade Taylor, MSW, PhD, is presenting the poster “Acceptability of a smartphone-based music intervention for chronic pain and problematic opioid use among patients living with HIV.” The study looked at music as an alternative treatment for chronic pain and substance use disorder. Specifically, it measured qualitative and pre/post-test data on the acceptability of a novel smartphone-based music intervention, Unwind, to address negative affect and chronic pain among HIV-infected patients with problematic opioid use. This paper was co-authored by Taylor along with Peter R. Chai, MD; Kristin L. Schreiber, MD, PhD; Georgia Goodman, BS; Conall O’Cleirigh, PhD; and Edward W. Boyer, MD, PhD.
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