Trainee Mentoring Award
Mentee: Nicole Ellenberger, MPH
Mentor: Natella Rakhmanina, MD, PhD
Objectives:
- To launch a new career in global health for Nicole Ellenberger
- To generate pilot data in order to obtain external funding in global health with a focus on identification and treatment of HIV among adolescents and youth in resource-limited settings
Project Summary:
In Kenya, one third (29%) of all new HIV infections occur among youth ages 15-24 years, and AIDS has become a leading cause of death in this age cohort. In 2016, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), with funding by ViiV Healthcare, has implemented an adolescent- and youth- specific comprehensive linkage to care and early retention “Red Carpet Program,” in Homa Bay County (HBC), Kenya; and since its launch in June 2016 the program enrolled >300 adolescents and youth. The program has collected baseline retrospective data, has also established a prospective monitoring and evaluation plan and represents a unique opportunity to launch implementation research on innovative approaches to maximize identification of HIV, timely linkage to care and prevention of AIDS among adolescents and youth in Kenya and globally/ The proposed project will collect data from the adolescents and youth within the Red Carpet program to evaluate the uptake, experience and satisfaction with the peer-based services and to inform implementation of the novel HIV self-testing models and best approach for the program scale up on a national level.
