On Monday, February 1, CBAM and the Behavioral Epidemiology Research Group hosted an all-day meeting titled “Advancing the Field of Biobehavioral Substance Use Measurement for HIV Positive and At-risk Populations”. The day was sponsored by UCLA CFAR and the AIDS Institute, with additional support from UCLA CHIPTS.
The meeting was a rousing success, with representatives from our very own UCLA, Columbia University, John Hopkins University, Northwestern University, University of Maryland, University of Washington, UCSD, UCSF, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. We were able to engage in a meaningful conversation about the impact of substance use on HIV progression and transmission, biomarkers of substance use, novel assays to detect interim use of substances, and promising behavioral measures. The goals of the day included bettering our understanding of how biology and behavior interact in the context of HIV when there is exposure to substance use, so that we can do more to improve the health of our communities on a local, national, and international scale.