HIV/AIDS Community Outreach in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: This cooperative effort involving the Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies at the University of Delaware, the Comprehensive Drug Research Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine, and the Nucleo de Estudos e Pesquisas em Atencao ao Uso de Dogas, a non-profit drug treatment and research center affiliated with the State University of Rio de Janeiro aim was to establish HIV/AIDS surveillance and monitoring system in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and to develop, implement, and evaluate a community-based HIV/AIDS prevention/intervention program for drug users in the target area.
Inciardi, James A., Hilary A. Surratt, and Paulo R. Zelles. 2000. Sex, Drugs and HIV/AIDS in Brazil. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Women Protecting Women: Brief Interventions for Drug-Using Women Sex Workers
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: The “Women Protecting Women Project” was designed to develop and evaluate a peer-led model of HIV/HBV risk reduction for drug-involved female sex workers in Miami, Florida.
Cross-National Survey of Pharmaceutical Diversion
· Funding Source: Purdue Pharma
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: This project was designed to collect basic incidence data on the nature and extent of the diversion of numerous drugs with high potential for abuse, including alprazolam, buprenorphine, carisoprodol, diazepam, fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, morphine, OxyContin, and other forms of oxycodone; and, in-depth data on diversion, patterns and mechanisms of diversion, and characteristics of diverters from the identified sentinel locations.
HIV/AIDS Prevention Research in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: This project was designed to collect both epidemiological data on HIV risk behaviors, and qualitative data on the context of HIV risk, in order to develop culturally appropriate prevention/interventions for drug and alcohol involved women and men in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands.
Men Reaching Out to Other Men: Developing a Mixed Serostatus Group Intervention for Gay and Bisexual Men
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: The aims of the study were to develop and test the feasibility and acceptability of a small group intervention aimed at reducing drug use and HIV sexual risk behaviors among HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay men.
The South Beach Project: Prescription Drug Abuse Among Club Drug Users
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: The short-term objectives of this project are to describe the nature of prescription drug abuse/club drug use and their adverse consequences in the Miami club culture. A broader long-term goal is to develop a better understanding of the current patterns and consequences of the abuse of prescription drugs and their incursion into the club culture, in order that effective strategies and policies may be developed for reducing the abuse and diversion of these drugs in Miami and other communities.
Risk Reduction for Urban Substance Using MSM
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: This study aims to test a new intervention based upon psychological empowerment theory that, in preliminary field tests, produced high levels of acceptability and participation, as well as large reductions in sexual risks and substance use, among a sample of high risk, substance-using, socially isolated men who have sex with men (MSM).
Understanding the Scope and Magnitude of Prescription Drug Diversion
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: The goal of this project is to examine and describe the complex of mechanisms and players that connect illicit supplies of prescription drugs (diversion) to abusers in South Florida from three vantage points: 1) prescription drug abusers, 2) prescription drug dealers, and 3) law enforcement.
The Diversion of Antiretroviral Medications to Street Markets
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: The overall goals of this 4-year study are to examine the patterns and predictors of ARV diversion among drug-involved HIV-positive individuals in Miami, Florida, and to describe the dynamics of ARV medication diversion to local street markets.
Women Protecting Women: Case Management Alternatives for African-American Women at High Risk for HIV
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: The second phase of the Women Protecting Women project is testing innovative case management approaches designed to increase linkages and engagement with drug abuse treatment, HIV-related care, and other health services among an underserved population of drug-using African American women sex workers.
Drug Use and Abuse in the Brazilian Rave Culture
· Funding Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
· Contact Person: Dr. Steven Kurtz (steven.kurtz@nova.edu)
Project Summary: This study was funded as an extension of the South Beach Project, with the goal of examining the marked increase in ecstasy use that is now occurring in many parts of Brazil.