Investing In The Next Generation Of HIV Prevention Researchers : HVTN Mentorship Program (RAMP)
What is RAMP?
The Research and Mentorship Program (RAMP), a collaboration between the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), provides structured mentorship and project funding for African American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American/American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Islander medical students.
HVTN accepts up to nine RAMP scholars each year to work under the mentorship of HVTN-affiliated investigators on research projects in basic clinical, behavioural, laboratory, and social science.
Setshaba RAMP Scholars
This year, Setshaba had the opportunity to mentor two scholars, India Perez-Urbano from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and Blair Thompson from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
Scholar #1
India Perez-Urbano collaborated on the HVTN study project titled “Patterns of daily pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis use and barriers and facilitators to its access and use in men who have sex with men, as well as transgender men and transgender women(MSM RAMP Study)” with Dr. Atom Dilraj, Dr Annah Pitsi, and the Community Engagement Team. The study project sought to find strategies to close the PREP uptake gap among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people in the city of Tshwane. The Community Engagement Team was given the opportunity to present the study’s findings at the 9th Tshwane District Health Services 2022 Research Conference, which was held a week ago at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) under the theme “Embracing Change, Putting Focus on Health Innovation, Integration, and Motivation.”
Scholar #2
Blair Thompson, visited Setshaba a few months ago. She worked with Dr. Ayman Osman, Dr. Atom Dilraj, Puseletso Manyaka, and the Community Engagement Team on the STI Ramp Study, which was formally titled “Prevalence and distribution of active sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis among symptomatic patients attending public health facilities in Soshanguve, South Africa,” and is now renamed “Prevalence of active sexually transmitted bacterial infections and bacterial vaginosis among symptoms.” During her visit to Setshaba, Blair was involved in the study’s community and participant engagement, specimen collection, and processing of samples in SRC’s laboratory. The study recently concluded enrolment, and has started the data analysis phase, which will be followed by the manuscript creation. The manuscript will be published in one of the peer-reviewed scientific journals.
