Check out the current issue of URBAN ARCH News, the quarterly newsletter bringing you news on the latest URBAN ARCH and related research.

Welcoming New Faces to the International URBAN ARCH Center Biostatistics and Data Management Core

In this edition of the URBAN ARCH Newsletter, we highlight new additions and transitions within the Biostatistics and Data Management (BDM) Core.

Updates from 2nd Generation URBAN ARCH HIV/Alcohol P01s

International URBAN ARCH Center Updates

Click on the buttons below to see what the International URBAN ARCH Center Cores and Projects have been working on.

Spotlight on… Fatema Shafie Khorassani, PhD and Huimin Cheng, PhD

In this issue, we learn more about Fatema Shafie Khorassani, biostatistician for the TALC and TRAC studies, and Huimin Cheng, biostatistician for the GRAIL study.

Article Spotlight

How Does Social Vulnerability Impact Mental Health Among People With HIV and Unhealthy Substance Use?

URBAN ARCH researchers investigated the impact of social determinants of health* on mental health among people with HIV (PWH) and unhealthy substance use, and explored whether race, ethnicity, or age affected those associations. The team created a 23-item social vulnerability index (SVI; scores ranging 0–23) using Andrew et al.’s social deficit accumulation approach to assess whether high SVI scores were associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms among PHW in the Boston ARCH cohort who also had unhealthy substance use.

  • There were 251 participants with a mean age of 52; 67 percent were male, 73 percent were unemployed, 52 percent were Black, 21 percent were Hispanic, and 19 percent were White. Thirty-eight percent had heavy alcohol use, and 35 percent had illicit drug use.
  • Thirty-four percent of participants had anxiety symptoms, and 54 percent had depressive symptoms.
  • The cohort had a mean SVI score of 9.3, with a 1.5–18 range. Higher SVI score was associated with anxiety symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.01), and depressive symptoms (aOR, 2.42).
  • There were no differences in SVI by race, ethnicity, or age.

*Defined by authors as including “socioeconomic status, education, employment, and income as well as social factors such as social support, living situation, social engagement, access to transportation, and healthcare.”

Comments: This novel instrument found that higher levels of social vulnerability were associated with poor mental health among a cohort of PHW with unhealthy substance use, regardless of race, ethnicity, or age. Targeted interventions are needed to address social vulnerability in these populations to improve mental health and other outcomes.

Reference: Shangani S, Winter MR, Shea M, et al. Social vulnerability and mental health among people with HIV and substance use: the role of race. AIDS Behav. 2024;28(12):4094–4105.

Latest News

Congratulations to Dr. ‌Jeffrey Samet, International URBAN ARCH Center PI, for receiving the Jerome Klein Award for Physician Excellence. This award is given annually to a physician at Boston Medical Center for outstanding mentorship, high standards and expectations, clinical and/or research excellence, leadership with a positive attitude, and support of colleagues and other healthcare providers. Dr. Samet, a leading figure in the Section of General Internal Medicine at BMC for over 40 years, including 19 years as chief, is celebrated for his passion, generosity, commitment to advancing addiction medicine, and mentorship of the next generation of physician-scientists.

Join us on Tuesday, April 8 at 11am ET / 10am CT / 8am PT to hear from Dr. Sarah Gutin (University of California, San Francisco) and Dr. Alain Favina (Mbarara University of Science and Technology). Drs. Gutin and Favina will present results from two papers using URBAN ARCH data. Register HERE.

Join us on Wednesday, May 28 at 1pm ET / 12pm CT / 10am PT to hear Dr. Geetanjali Chander (University of Washington) present progress and emerging results from the Alcohol Research Consortium in HIV (ARCH) P01 program. Register HERE.

The 4th annual Research on Alcohol and HIV satellite meeting at RSA is seeking abstracts for oral and poster presentations. The objective of this meeting is to present updates on alcohol research among people living with HIV. These updates can come from existing or new studies including NIAAA-funded HIV and alcohol consortia. Research can include but is not limited to data from observational studies, implementation, pilot studies, and randomized controlled trials. Please apply by March 21, 2025 at redcap.link/AlcoholHIVAbstract2025.

New URBAN ARCH Publications

Events and Conferences

Click here for more events and conferences.

Happy Spring from URBAN ARCH!