Chicago D-CFAR: Social and Behavioral Science Core E

Core Mission

To stimulate, advise, and provide basic research support in the use of social and behavioral science theory and methods as they apply to HIV/AIDS research across the Chicago D-CFAR’s three participating institutions

Core Objectives

• To develop active, multi-disciplinary research teams representing partnerships between social, behavioral, clinical, and basic scientists at all three participating institutions;
• To establish an active service within the Core for assisting D-CFAR investigators in using social and behavioral science theory and methods to enhance their research and inform funding applications;
• To mentor and add to the research training of promising junior scholars and other researchers with the potential to address important issues central to research on HIV/AIDS;
• To assist in the transfer of findings from D-CFAR conducted studies to the community, health and service providers, and other stakeholders for whom they are meant.

Core Services

• Facilitation of collaborative research opportunities
• Consultation in the selection, use, and interpretation of social and behavioral sciences theory and methods
• Mentoring of young investigators
• Skill-building workshops in social and behavioral sciences theory and methods
• Sponsorship of a social and behavioral sciences lecture series
• Sponsorship of an annual Community Dissemination Research Forum
• Research ethics and IRB protocol assistance

Core Contacts

Director:  Judith A. Levy, PhD

Dr. Levy is Associate Professor of Health Policy and Administration in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago.   She is director of the Fogarty UIC AIDS International Training and Research Program (UIC-ATRIP) and her research interests include HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, and aging across the life course.  Currently, she is working through NIH funding to establish an AIDS Research Program within the Research Institute at Atma Jaya Catholic University (AJCU) in Jakarta, Indonesia.  Dr. Levy is also the Principal Investigator for a 3-year ethnographic study designed to examine and understand the cultural norms, beliefs and practices surrounding traditional male circumcision rites within the context of the AIDS epidemic as a status passage into manhood among the Yao people of Malawi.

Co-Director:  Robert Bailey, PhD

Dr. Bailey is Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.  He is also an Affiliate in the Department of Anthropology at UIC.   His research interests include: HIV/AIDS prevention; male circumcision as a strategy for HIV/STD prevention; support and care for people living with HIV; risk compensation with introduction of ART and male circumcision in developing countries; and risks of HIV/STI infection in men who have sex with men in Africa.  Professor Bailey is Principle Investigator and collaborator on several projects scaling-up male circumcision and conducting operations research to assess safety, uptake and behavioral implications of male circumcision services in Kenya.

Co-Director: Jane Burke-Miller, PhD

Jane Burke-Miller, Ph.D., is the Social and Behavioral Science Core's Early Investigator, assisting the Core's director (Levy) and co-director (Bailey) to link HIV/AIDS scientists in the clinical, biomedical, or social/behavioral sciences to DCFAR resources, as well as facilitating the use of social and behavioral theory and methods in members' research protocols and proposals for funding.  Dr. Burke-Miller's primary research interests are the social context of health disparities that negatively affect African American women, and the use of multilevel and geospatial approaches to identify community-based strengths that can be developed into positive influences for intervention. She has extensive experience in multisite and longitudinal research on women and HIV/AIDS, psychiatric disability, and psychosocial distress which has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and conference presentations.  Currently, she is Senior Research Analyst for the Chicago Consortium of the Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Core Coordinator: Thuy Tran, B.A.

Thuy Tran, B.A. currently is earning her Master of Science degree in Biostatistics at the UIC School of Public Health. Her research interests include HIV-AIDS and prevention, infectious diseases, and healthcare access among impoverished populations. Prior to coming to UIC, Thuy worked at the University of Chicago assisting in the development of a local South Side web-based health access information system.

Core Steering Committee: 

Binta Alleyne, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, Jane Adams School of Social Work, UIC)
Gabriel Culbert, R.N., B.S.N., B.A. (Doctoral student, College of Nursing, UIC)
Geri Donenberg, Ph.D. (Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UIC)
Sybil Hosek, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychologist, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, John Stroger Hospital of Cook County)
David J. McKirnan, Ph.D. (Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, UIC)

Core Contact:

Thuy Tran
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health
Division of Health Policy and Administration
1603 West Taylor (MC 923)
Chicago, IL 60612
Phone: (312) 996-3132
Fax: (312) 996-5356