Dr. Mandy Hill Named One of Ujima Program Scholars
Mandy J. Hill, DrPH, has been accepted into the 2022 Inaugural Cohort of the University of California, San Francisco, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) Ujima Mentoring Program.
The University of California, San Francisco, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies is funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) AIDS Research Centers (ARC) Program. Underneath that umbrella, the Ujima Program provides multidisciplinary research mentoring and funding to early-stage investigators, particularly those at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), who focus their programs of research on high priority areas that address HIV prevention, care, and treatment specifically in the Black/African American communities.
All scholars admitted into the program are responsible for forming a mentoring team and granted an $80,000 stipend to support proposed research including protected time to engage in research activities and to write an NIH R-level grant application with guidance from mentors and senior Ujima leadership. She will receive local mentorship from Dr. Diane Santa Maria, Dean of the Cizik School of Nursing, and Dr. Hill’s mentor with the Developmental Center for AIDS Research (DCFAR) Mentoring Program.
With new HIV cases disproportionately affecting cisgender Black women, Dr. Hill looked outside of traditional avenues to engage women in prevention and education by leveraging video blogging, or vlogging as an effective communication strategy to address HIV-related health inequities.
In a pilot study, Hill compared the vlogging strategy of a one-way monologue by a Black woman who is corrected by a clinician when sharing misinformation to a strategy using storytelling – a conversation between two Black women. While the knowledge base pre- and post-vlog did not improve, the participants were very engaged in both types of vlogs, revealing a promising new path for behavioral interventions.
This proposed pilot project was identified by the Ujima committee as having significant scientific merit. “While entertainment did not translate to knowledge, the manuscript reimagines what HIV/AIDS prevention looks like for women and girls using vlogs as an innovative strategy,” said Hill
Dr. Hill looks to develop more on the new research that builds on vlogging in tandem with an approach from another study she did on linking Black women in emergency rooms with community resources that provide pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The majority of Dr. Hill’s research within Ujima will continue work developing new vlogs for Black women as a health communication strategy to promote PrEP uptake and HIV prevention.