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Dr. Brian Feinstein, research assistant professor at the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and affiliated faculty at the Center for Sexual Health Promotion (CSHP) at Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, has received an $887,000 Career Development Award (K08) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Dr. Brian Dodge, associate professor in the Department of Applied Health Science and CSHP associate director, will serve as scientific mentor on the award.
The grant will support a five-year program focused on examining factors that drive engagement in HIV risk behavior and substance use among self-identified bisexual male youth (ages 14-17 years) in order to facilitate developing and pilot testing an HIV and substance use prevention intervention for bisexual male youth. Additionally, the award will provide support for training in adolescent health, qualitative research methods, and intervention development.
The overall line of research conducted by Drs. Feinstein and Dodge is unique in focusing on understanding and reducing health disparities specifically among diverse bisexual populations. The new research will add urgently needed data on bisexual youth, who consistently report dramatic disparities in terms of negative health outcomes (including substance use, suicidality, and a range of health risk behaviors) relative to heterosexual and gay/lesbian-identified youth.
Dr. Feinstein, who is also a licensed clinical psychologist, will be co-mentored by Drs. Brian Dodge (CSHP) and Brian Mustanski (ISGMH) throughout the course of the project. The research team also includes Drs. J. Dennis Fortenberry (IU School of Medicine, Division of Adolescent Medicine), C. Hendricks Brown (Northwestern University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences), and Hector Carrillo (Northwestern University, Department of Sociology).