Dr. O'Laughlin to Lead Study on HIV Suppression in Uganda

Dr. Kelli O’Laughlin will serve as the Principal Investigator on a new study that looks to suppress HIV in refugee settlements in Uganda. 

The study, titled ‘Achieving HIV viral suppression in refugee settlements in Uganda with Head StART: a cluster randomized trial evaluating the effectiveness of community ART delivery for people newly diagnosed with HIV’ is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. O’Laughlin will work with additional co-investigators, including the UW Department of Global Health, and several members of the Infectious Diseases Institute in Uganda. Additionally, this work will be in close collaboration with partners from Medical Teams International.

The study’s overall objective is to conduct a cluster randomized controlled trials in 12 refugee settlements in Uganda to discern the effectiveness of community antiretroviral therapy (ART) delivery for those newly diagnosed with HIV, compared to standard care (facility-based ART delivery) to achieve HIV viral suppression.

The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Head StART in achieving HIV viral suppression for people newly diagnosed with HIV in refugee settlements in Uganda. The study will assess Head StART implementation across refugee settlement locations to understand the impact of contextual factors on achieving optimal HIV clinical outcomes. Additionally, the study aims to estimate the programmatic cost and budget impact of implementing Head StART in refugee settlements in Uganda.

The innovative approach assesses novel timing of community ART delivery in a humanitarian crisis-affected population at high risk of poor clinical outcomes.  The long-term goal is to devise strategies to optimize HIV outcomes in refugee settlements in Uganda.

The project started in April of 2023 and is set to end in January of 2028