{"id":126612,"date":"2020-09-08T13:21:50","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T23:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=126612"},"modified":"2024-03-15T13:57:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T23:57:43","slug":"national-research-award-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/09\/08\/national-research-award-student\/","title":{"rendered":"National research award for public health grad student"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"woman
Amber Sophus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at Mānoa Office of Public Health Studies<\/a> (OPHS<\/abbr>) has won a national research award to showcase her work at the American Public Health Association (APHA<\/abbr>) annual meeting that will be held virtually in October.<\/p>\n

Amber Sophus<\/strong>, one of 28 winners nationwide, will present her systematic review about interventions aimed at preventing HIV<\/abbr>\/AIDS<\/abbr> in Black women in the U.S.<\/abbr><\/p>\n

“In my dissertation research with Black women, I focus on identifying their barriers and facilitators toward using pre-exposure prophylaxis [PrEP<\/abbr>],” Sophus said. PrEP<\/abbr> medications for HIV<\/abbr>-negative individuals are important because they could help reduce Black women’s risk of becoming infected with HIV<\/abbr> through sex with an infected partner.<\/p>\n

Sophus was nominated for the award by the 糖心视频<\/abbr> chapter of Delta Omega Honor Society<\/a>, a prominent public health honor society. She has completed her master of public health degree and is now working toward earning her PhD<\/abbr> at OPHS<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

“Amber\u2019s research is timely and vital to helping reduce HIV<\/abbr> disparities that severely impact Black women in the U.S.<\/abbr>, particularly in the south,” said Jason W. Mitchell<\/strong>, an associate professor of OPHS<\/abbr> who is her primary mentor and chair of her dissertation committee. “Winning this award reflects Amber\u2019s hard work\u2026she deserves this important national recognition.”<\/p>\n

Most interventions aimed to prevent new HIV<\/abbr> infections in Black women have been conducted in the Southern U.S.<\/abbr>, focused on adults, and have centered on women’s behaviors. Few studies have included teens or older women, while none have included the use of PrEP<\/abbr> in preventing new infections, and none have included women’s sex partners in the interventions.<\/p>\n

“This research reveals opportunities to improve current and future HIV<\/abbr> prevention interventions for Black women, such as including PrEP<\/abbr>,” Sophus said. “Although strides have been made to prevent HIV<\/abbr> infections in Black women, more work is needed.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa graduate student Amber Sophus will present her systematic review about interventions aimed at preventing HIV<\/abbr>\/AIDS<\/abbr> in Black women in the U.S.<\/abbr><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1363,241,449,660,9,1626],"class_list":["post-126612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-manoa-research","tag-public-health","tag-public-health-sciences","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","tag-women-of-uh","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t