Brown Awarded National Institute of Mental Health Grant

Anthropology professor Shan-Estelle Brown has received a one-year grant funded by the National Institute of Mental Health in partnership with Yale University and the Center for Interdisciplinary Research to study the use of text messages as a means to distribute critical information to HIV health-care providers.

Brown will be teaming up with researchers from the University of Central Florida, University of Missouri, and SUNY University at Albany to undertake the project, titled “Longitudinal Text Messaging Educational Campaign to Increase PrEP Prescription Among Medical Providers in Orange County, Florida.”

Florida’s Orange County is one of 57 priority areas in the U.S. that account for more than half of all new HIV diagnoses. Brown’s project concentrates on using mobile phones to update local doctors and health-care providers on the latest guidelines on HIV prevention and encourage them to discuss HIV prevention with their patients and clients.