CHPPR Research Projects
Current research projects are listed below. Click a project title to go its detail page.
The Adolescent Vaccination Program (AVP) is a multicomponent HPV vaccination program that targets healthcare providers and parents of pediatric patients ages 11-17. It was developed by researchers and physicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health and Baylor College of Medicine. The AVP contains a suite of evidence-based strategies to increase vaccination, including immunization champions, provider assessment and feedback, provider reminders, provider continuing education, patient reminder and recall systems, and patient (parent) education. 
The Adolescent Vaccination Project is a collaboration between the UTHealth School of Public Health, Baylor College of Medicine, and Texas Children's Pediatrics (TCP). The primary goal of this initiative is to increase initiation and completion of HPV vaccination among male and female patients at TCP, a network of over 50 clinics in the greater Houston area. 
All for Them (AFT) is a multilevel multicomponent program that comprises three synergistic evidence-based strategies to effectively increase HPV vaccine initiation and completion among youth living in medically underserved areas. 
Be Legendary - Developing a Multi-Component Teen Pregnancy Prevention Intervention for Male Teens
A theoretically-based and youth-centered approach to reduce unplanned teen birth among male adolescents
Brief Interventions to Create Smoke-Free Home Policies in Low-Income Households
To increase protection of healthy children and non-smoking adults from secondhand smoke, exposure, we developed the Smoke-Free Homes Program: Some Things are Better Outside (SFHs). This is a minimally intensive program with three mailings and a single counseling telephone call, implemented in partnership with 2-1-1 social services information and referral (I&R) systems.
Care Coordination for Complex Cancer Survivors in an Integrated Safety-net System
The project involves implementing care coordination strategies shown to be effective for primary care conditions among complex cancer survivors at Parkland Health & Hospital System.
Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, Community Engagement Component
This project focuses on the Community Engagement component of the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS)
Cervical Cancer-Free Texas (CCFTexas) was launched in April 2011. The initiative is led by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health who have experience developing and disseminating programs to prevent and control cervical, breast, and colorectal cancers. 
Child home safety in Hispanic and rural communities: A community health worker intervention
Unintentional injuries in the home environment are a leading cause of preventable death among children. In partnership with the Office of Border Public Health, UTHealth is developing and pilot testing a culturally tailored, community health worker driven intervention to address child home safety hazards.
Cluster Randomized Trial of School-Based Program to Prevent Teen Dating Violence
The goal of this study (sub-contracted from the University of Texas Medical Branch) is to rigorously evaluate the middle school version of Fourth R, an effective high school dating violence prevention program.
A smartphone-based program to promote healthy eating and physical activity among African American breast cancer survivors. 
Enhanced Integrated Treatment Program with Sexual Health in Recovery (EITP-SHIR)
The Montrose Center is subcontracting with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health to evaluate an evidence-based intervention, Enhanced Integrated Treatment Program with Sexual Health in Recovery (EITP-SHIR), implemented by the Center. This is a SAMHSA-funded project that aims to increase access to treatment for African American and Latino GBTQ+ persons and PLWH reporting chemsex. The EITP-SHIR program uses the Integrated Treatment Program (ITP) plus an assessment of client’s sexual health, shame about sexual behavior, and chemsex.
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the impact of Certified Peer Support (CPS) specialists to decrease recidivism, promote community tenure and encourage recovery of people in jail across each of the three project sites (Tarrant county, Harris County, and the Rio Grande Valley). 
Evaluation of Texas Association of Community Health Centers Initiative for Trauma Informed Care
This project is an evaluation of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers initiative to implement a trauma informed care approach in community health centers. Trauma informed care is a collection of approaches that calls for a change in organizational culture, where an emphasis is placed on understanding, respecting and appropriately responding to individual well being and the effects of traumas at all levels.
Everyone counts: Promoting Census participation along the U.S. Mexico Border
To make sure historically undercounted populations along the Texas-Mexico border are included in the 2020 census, UTHealth is joining forces with the U.S. Census Bureau, community health workers, and local organizations to launch a collaborative campaign in the El Paso region.
An online program designed to improve diet and increase physical activity among breast cancer and colorectal cancer survivors. 
For Our Children (Por Nuestros Hijos) is a theory-based program designed to educate Hispanic parents about the human papillomavirus (HPV), and motivate them to vaccinate their adolescent children (11 - 17 years). The program features bilingual (English/Spanish) resources, which health professionals can use to educate parents about HPV, and an innovative interactive application for healthcare providers, designed to increase the effectiveness of HPV-vaccine recommendation. 
Graduate Training Program in Breast Cancer Disparities at UTSPH
The goal of the training program is to train a new cadre of innovative and highly skilled researchers and practitioners, preferably from populations that are disproportionately affected by breast cancer, who are committed to the elimination of breast cancer disparities.
This study (sub-contracted from the University of Texas Medical Branch) will extend an ongoing longitudinal study of high school students for an five additional data collection time points (up to age 29) and will assess dating violence perpetration and victimization, and modifiable risk and protective factors in adolescents from ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds. 
This project connect residents in predominantly low income Hispanic communities to health resources. 
This is an evaluation of the Healthy Zone Schools program (https://www.healthyzoneschool.com/), which targets childhood obesity by promoting physical activity and nutrition in schools. 
This project aims to study the effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions for criminal justice (i.e., jail and community supervision) involved younger Black men who have sex with men in HIV prevention services by developing Agent-based Network Modeling methodology. This study is conducted in three sites (Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles). 
Through the Housing for Opioid MAT Expanded Services (Project HOMES), the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) will collaborate with multiple community partners, including a State of Texas National Association for Recovery Residences (NARR) affiliate, to open and evaluate 13 Level II or III NARR-certified recovery residences throughout Texas for persons using medication assisted treatment (MAT) as part of their recovery plan. We anticipate opening residences in Austin, Houston, El Paso, and San Angelo and will provide technical assistance, certification, and auditing of residences to ensure compliance with NARR standards. 
Houston Health Department Teen Dating and Youth Violence Prevention Strategy
The purpose of this project is to lead the evaluation of multifaceted primary prevention approach encompasses both individual- and community-level strategies to prevent youth and teen dating violence in high-risk communities.
In-depth interviews with polysubstance-using men who have sex with men in the Houston area.
Health needs assessment of long-haul truckers and sex workers found at truck stops in the Houston area 
HRSA Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP) ¬- Recovery Support Peer Specialists
Through the Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP) Recovery Support Peer Specialists Project, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), in collaboration with RecoveryPeople, an experienced training entity, will establish a network of workforce development hubs across Texas in order to enhance community-based experiential training for students preparing to become Recovery Support Peer Specialists (RSPS) and/or related peer paraprofessional roles that serve persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) and other substance use disorders (SUD) in high need and high demand communities along the Texas-Mexico Border, in rural counties and in Hurricane disaster relief areas.
The goal of the Hurricane Harvey Oral History Project is to preserve the history of people's experiences and responses to Harvey, incorporating perspectives from multiple points of view. 
Needs assessment of men having sex with men in the State of Maharahstra, India. 
The UTHealth School of Public Health - Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research in collaboration with the Gulf Coast Regional Extension Center (GCREC) at the UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics (SBMI) is assisting the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in carrying out CDC initiatives for the Diabetes and Heart Disease Prevention & Management Project. 
UTHealth collaborated with three 2-1-1 call centers in the Houston area, the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the El Paso area to provide referrals, navigation, and, in some cases, financial assistance to 2-1-1 callers needing breast cancer screening, Pap tests, colorectal cancer screening, HPV vaccination, or smoking cessation. A randomized controlled trial showed that navigation was effective in increasing completion of these behaviors compared to referrals only. 
It's Your Game ... Keep it Real! (IYG) is a classroom- and computer-based program for middle school youth. The curriculum is grounded in theory and was developed to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV. IYG emphasizes abstinence but also teaches students how to protect themselves from pregnancy and STDs using medically accurate information. 
The Supervision of Peer Workforce project, developed by SHARE!, the Self-Help and Recovery Exchange, sought to maximize the efficacy of both peer workers and their supervisors, thereby improving outcomes for individuals receiving mental health and substance use services. To evaluate this project, we conducted a cluster-randomized trial with 85 clinics who hired and supervised over 200 peer workers. 
Me & You-Tech: A socio-ecological Solution to Teen Dating Violence for the Digital Age
The goal of this 3 year Fast-Track STTR is to develop and evaluate a multi-level (youth, parent, school) Internet-based teen dating violence (DV) prevention program, ‘Me & You-Tech’ (MYT), for predominantly racial/ethnic-minority 6th--grade middle school students.
Some middle school programs have been shown to elicit positive behavioral change related to teen dating violence; however, most school-based middle school programs have been developed for and/or evaluated for older, predominantly white adolescents. Me & You is among one of the first programs to have been developed and shown to be effective in reducing dating violence perpetration for ethnic minority middle school youth and to include components from multiple levels of the socio-ecological model.
Methodology and Advanced Analytics Resource Center (MAARC) | NIH/NIDA U2C DA050098
Site PI (a Core Methodology Leader for Social Network Analysis). This project proposes advanced bi-directional data sharing, analytics, and modeling capacities to provide new scientific insights into interventions at the intersection of opioid use and justice contexts. The MAARC (at the University of Chicago) will support these capabilities within opioid clinical trials implemented within justice contexts, serving as one of the 12 research hubs of a U2 consortium project that comprises a national network of investigators of JCOIN (the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network).
Minimizing novel Coronavirus exposure at small businesses with community health workers
The goal of this project is to mitigate the occurrence of COVID-19 infections in El Paso by minimizing the chance of novel coronavirus exposure at small businesses and micro enterprises. To accomplish this goal, the project will implement a Community Health Worker (CHW) driven work safer program with small businesses in El Paso, helping them implement recommended safeguards for their industry
Mobilizing Community Partnerships for Effective Sex Education in Middle School
While significant progress has been made in the development of effective programs to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among youth, there has been little progress made in their widespread dissemination to schools. Using community-based participatory research methods, researchers at UTHealth developed iCHAMPSS, an innovative, theory- and Web-based decision support system designed to facilitate the adoption, implementation, and maintenance of adolescent sexual health evidence-based programs in schools.
Native iCHAMPS was created to help youth-serving organizations adopt, implement, and maintain sexual health programs in Native communities. Native iCHAMPS (CHoosing And Maintaining Effective Programs for Sex Education) is an online decision support system to help guide individuals through the process. 
Native It’s Your Game (Native IYG) is a web-based HIV, STD and pregnancy prevention curriculum for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth ages 12-14. Native IYG is comprised of thirteen 30-50-minute interactive lessons, which can be used in the classroom, or as an extracurricular program. NIYG teaches about healthy relationships, life skills, communication, and refusal skills using interactive activities, video games, personalized “journaling” activities, tailored feedback and individually tailored activities.
Network Dynamics of Syphilis Co-infection within Biomedical Prevention | NIH/NIAID 1R21AI13948
This project takes biological, behavioral, and epidemiological perspectives to investigate complex syphilis-HIV transmission dynamic processes, coevolved with sex behavioral dynamic, and sexual network dynamic, and risk reduction behavioral dynamic among young Black men who have sex with men at the aim of creating effective syphilis eliminations interventions for most-at-risk population in the United States.
Site PI. This projects aims to guide and transform the rapidly evolving public health implementation of molecular HIV surveillance (MHS) based prevention interventions as a critical step towards HIV elimination in Chicago and Houston.
Site PI, subcontract through University of Chicago
The goal of this project is to guide and transform the rapidly evolving public health implementation of molecular HIV surveillance (MHS) based prevention interventions as a critical step towards HIV elimination in Chicago and Houston. 
Our study aims to develop and validate a survey for assessing organizational readiness to implement evidence-based colorectal cancer screening interventions among federally qualified health centers.
Needs assessment of methamphetamine-using men who have sex with men in the US.
Project Evaluation of Comprehensive Case Management for Sexual and Gender Minorities
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health is a sub-contractor for the Montrose Center on a SAMHSA-funded project that aims to increase access to treatment for LGBTQ+ persons and People Living with HIV (PLWH) who have co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders; and increase coordination and integration between service lines and with peer services to produce better outcomes for clients.
Major Goals: To develop and test the feasibility of an eLearning program and an mHealth tool on brief tobacco counseling specifically designed for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking cancer care providers. 
Proyecto Vales+Tú: A Program to Prevent Injury Disparities Among Latino Day Laborers
Latino day laborers (LDL) experience a disproportionately high rate of on-the-job injuries and fatalities compared with other workers in the US. The aims of this study were to identify intervention priorities then to design and pilot a culturally responsive safety intervention program.
Addressing COVID-19 Testing Disparities in Vulnerable Populations Using a Community Just in Time Adaptive Intervention.
Randomized trial of a data-driven technical assistance system for drug prevention coalitions
This 5-year project will study the effectiveness of the Coalition Check-Up technical assistance system for supporting community coalition implementation of evidence-based drug prevention programs. The model is a low-cost and generalizable approach for supporting coalitions to achieve community-wide reductions in youth substance abuse.
Hispanic immigrant health disparities are amongst the highest in the nation, especially related to obesity and access to health services. Healthy Fit (En Forma Saludable) is a health promotion program that leverages public health department infrastructure to address these disparities through the use of three key innovations: community health workers, motivational interviewing, and vouchers for free preventative health services
Red de Coaliciones Comunitarias de Mexico is a network of over 20 youth substance use prevention coalitions across Mexico. The neighborhood based coalitions bring together several sectors of the community including health providers, social service agencies, religious organizations, law enforcement, government agencies, schools, and parents and youth. These diverse sectors work together to bring about environmental and policy changes that prevent youth substance use. 
A community-based program focused on delivering breast and cervical cancer screening education and telephone-based coaching, to unscreened or unvaccinated Latinas who have never had or are overdue for ACS-recommended preventive breast and cervical cancer services. 
Sexual and Gender Minority Cancer Curricular Advances for Research and Education (SGM Cancer CARE)
Major Goals: To design an up-to-date, useful, competency-based, modular workshop curriculum, which we titled SGM Cancer CARE (Sexual and Gender Minority Cancer: Curricular Advances for Research and Education), for providing participants with knowledge and skills to begin conducting high-quality and culturally appropriate research to improve SGM care across the cancer care Continuum.
Spanish MINDSET: Expanding and Validating a Self-Management Tool for the Hispanic Community
The goal of this project is to develop a Spanish version of an epilepsy self-management decision-support system and test the efficacy of both the Spanish and English versions on epilepsy self-management in Hispanic patients attending four clinic sites near the Mexico border in Arizona and Texas.
Multiple PI. This supplement project proposes to examine institutional and social network contributors to opioid use (including prescription opioids, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl), opioid use disorder, and opioid-related harms among younger Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) with involvement in the criminal justice/corrections system.
Site PI. This supplement project proposes to examine next generation responses to HIV related events in ending the epidemic contexts in Chicago and Houston.
This project is an innovative health promotion program that empowers youth to serve as both educators and healthy policy advocates. 
SGM health needs assessment 
Text-based smoking cessation intervention for sexual and gender minority groups
Major Goals: To prospectively explore the feasibility of a tailored text-based intervention for smoking cessation targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender smokers
The University of Puerto Rico and MD Anderson Cancer Center Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research seeks to address and, ultimately, eliminate cancer health disparities through the development of clinical, research, outreach and educational activities that benefit both institutions. 
The goal of this project is to conduct a needs assessment to inform the development of curricula for youth, trainings for adults, and other possible individual- and systems-level strategies to reduce pregnancies among youth in care.
Unidas por Vida y Salud: Increasing Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening in El Paso
The proposed prevention program Unidas por Vida y Salud (United for Life and Health) uses evidence-based strategies, including promotora-delivered educational sessions and client reminders, to increase both uptake of breast and cervical cancer screening and repeat screening among low income, uninsured or under-insured Hispanic women in El Paso.
We Can Do More is a multi-level community based intervention targeting health clinics, schools, youth serving organizations and faith-based institutions. The goal of WCDM is to increase the capacity of participating organizations/agencies to address teen pregnancy and contraception access with proven strategies and programs. 
YMAP: Young Men’s Affiliation Project of HIV Risk and Prevention Venue | NIH/NIMH 1R01MH100021
This project conducts a multisite longitudinal network study to investigate the HIV/STD risk and protective behaviors associated with social networks created by venue affiliations among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) ages 16-29 years. This study is conducted in two cities (Houston and Chicago).