Rasheeta Chandler, an assistant professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, was selected for a visiting professorship with the University of California-San Francisco’s (UCSF) Center for AIDS Prevention Studies.

The program is designed to prepare investigators interested in conducting HIV-related research within ethnic minority communities and ways to obtain National Institutes of Health funding. To date, program participants have received more than $144 million in grant funding, including 57 multi-year awards from NIH, 31 R01 awards, and 14 awards from the Center for Disease Control, Health Resources and Science Administration, or the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. Program participants have also made a scientific impact, generating over 1,100 articles.

Chandler’s proposed project for the Visiting Professor Program, “Virtual reality & HIV Prevention with Women of Color,” will explore the efficiency of smartphones as a primary delivery platform for HIV/AIDS prevention interventions targeting adolescent and young adult women of color. 

Chandler is a nationally recognized expert, serving as a reviewer for the numerous publications. These include the Journal of Adolescent Medicine, Journal of Adolescent Health, Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, as well as the Journal of Media and Communication Studies. With more than 17 original articles in referred journals and nearly 40 research abstracts, Chandler is widely recognized for her contributions to minority health and nursing as a fellow of Brown University’s Initiative on HIV and AIDS Clinical Research for Disadvantaged Communities. Chandler has received further accolades for her work from the National Minority Quality Forum, who named her as a 40 Under 40 Leader in minority health.

Chandler will spend six weeks in San Francisco beginning in June and will complete two additional six-week stints during the summers of 2019 and 2020 while participating in UCSF’s Visiting Professor Program.