Dr. Randolph Hubach, former doctoral student at the Center for Sexual Health Promotion and currently ssistant professor of health education and promotion at Oklahoma State University, was recently awarded a grant by the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science & Technology (OCAST) Health Research Program. 

The more than $86,000 grant will support Hubach’s project to reduce HIV transmission in rural communities. Of the 119 proposals submitted to OCAST, Hubach’s was one of 30 to receive funding.

Hubach is the director of OSU’s Sexual Health Research Lab. He says this grant will have significant impact on the population it serves by providing comprehensive community-based prevention programs that include holistic behavioral intervention targeting at-risk groups and people living with HIV/AIDS.

“The HIV care continuum (i.e., HIV screening, linkages to care) is unreliable in rural areas of the United States,” Hubach said. “There remains a critical public health need to develop the HIV care continuum to meet the needs of vulnerable populations in rural, underserved areas.“

Dr. Hubach holds a Ph.D. in health behavior from Indiana University’s School of Public Health. During his time at Indiana University, he served as a research coordinator for Drs. Michael Reece and Brian Dodge, in addition to developing and sustaining a wide range of community-based partnerships with local and regional AIDS service organizations and other community-based organizations. He is an active scholar with research interests in rural health, LGBT population health, sexuality-related health disparities, and HIV/AIDS. Julie Croff, health education and promotion associate professor, and Denna Wheeler, director of research and evaluation at the Center for Rural Health, Center for Health Sciences are co-investigators of the grant.