Hahm Awarded NIH Grant to Unlock HIV/STI Disparities among Asian American and Pacific Islander Women

Dr. Hyeouk Chris Hahm, assistant professor at Boston University School of Social Work, has been awarded a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the underlying factors leading to HIV/STI disparities in Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) women. The five-year award launches her research project, “API Women’s Sexual Health Initiative Project (AWSHIP),” an epidemiological and behavioral study that will collect and examine data related to sexual risk behaviors based on distinct API ethnicity.

States Dean Gail Steketee, “Since Professor Hahm joined the School, we have been excited by her work, and are particularly proud of the high caliber research she has done on health disparities.”

While the rate of AIDS has plateaued for high-risk groups such as injection drug users and men who have sex with men, the number of HIV-infected minority women is rapidly increasing. According to 2004 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, among minority women, the rate of HIV infection is highest for API populations.

“This research is very important,” says Dr. Hahm. “Until now, very little has been known about sexual risk behaviors in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese women. Most data and studies lump these women together as Asian American, but each ethnicity is distinct. Each has its own language, culture, belief system and behaviors. These are factors that mediate health behaviors, and we must understand them if we are going to close any health disparity.”

Additionally, through this research, Dr. Hahm also hopes to uncover how depression and acculturation influence HIV/STI risk behaviors among young API women, as well as gender roles, relationship power and engagement in HIV/STI risk behaviors. Working with six community centers in Boston, Dr. Hahm and her team will interview Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese women, and ultimately, make recommendations for effective intervention and treatment.

As part of the grant, Dr. Hahm will also have a mentoring team, including Dr. Lena Lundgren, research director at the School of Social Work and director of the Center for Addictions Research and Services, as well as Drs. Lee Strunin and Timothy Heeren at the School of Public Health.

Learn more about Dr. Hahm’s work.