Professor Alexis Roth of Drexel's Dornsife School of Public Health leads the TIARAS study, hosted at Prevention Point Philadelphia. The goal of the study is to see whether a brief trauma-informed writing intervention can reduce cisgender women’s HIV risk in the context of substance use. This study builds on previous research which found that exposure to traumatic violence is common among Prevention Point’s female participants, and that these experiences simultaneously increase their interest in oral PrEP—a medication taken to reduce HIV risk—while also making it harder for them to adhere to PrEP or stay in care.
In 2022, Prevention Point was one of the first syringe services programs in the United States to introduce an FDA-approved longer-acting injectable form of PrEP, and Dr. Roth has been studying which type of PrEP women are most interested in and why.
This week, Professor Roth is in Germany at the International AIDS Conference presenting her team’s research. She summarizes their findings as follows:
“Prevention Point has always been a leader in offering patient-centered care. When asked, women told us how important it was to them that their providers honored their ability to make a choice about which type of PrEP was right for them. Nearly all TIARAS participants chose the longer-acting medication because they believed it would be easier to incorporate into their medical routine than a daily pill. In the US and around the globe, women who inject drugs are disproportionately impacted by HIV. We need to urgently address the unmet need for this important harm reduction tool — this study provides very early evidence on one way to do that.”
PPP staff love working with the TIARAS team and helping our female participants make empowered choices about their health. Learn more about TIARAS and our PrEP Clinic.
