Jeffrey Wickersham, PhD

Jeffrey Wickersham is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the section of infectious diseases. His research is focused on improving HIV treatment and prevention outcomes among sexual and gender minorities, including transgender women, gay men, and bisexual men. Dr. Wickersham's research has focused on development of biomedical and behavioral interventions, including peer/patient navigation, implementation of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, development of artificial intelligence-based "chatbot" technology to improve uptake of HIV testing, and adaptation of mHealth applications for transgender women to scale-up HIV testing and linkage to PrEP services. Most of this research is being conducted in Southeast Asia, primarily at sites in Malaysia and Thailand.

Active Research

• Integrated online-to-offline (O2O) model of care for HIV prevention and treatment among men who have sex with men
  • Grant No: R34 MH128114-01A1
  • Online HIV self-testing (HIVST) with virtual e-counseling provides an innovative approach to improving and retaining individuals in regular HIV testing. This study combines online HIVST with a novel online-to-offline intervention to improve post-testing linkage to prevention care (HIV-) and treatment (HIV+) among MSM

• Strengthening the HIV care continuum for transgender women living with HIV in Malaysia
  • Grant No: R21 MH128114-01A1
  • This study aims to improve HIV treatment outcomes among transgender women in Malaysia by adapting an evidence-based peer navigation program. The award leverages dyadic data analysis to explore the unique peer-patient relationship and its impact on HIV treatment outcomes.

• Gamification to enhance engagement in HIV prevention and co-morbid conditions in YMSM
  • Grant No: R21 AI167773-01A1
  • This award leverages gamification through an evidence-based smartphone application to engage young men who have sex with men in HIV testing and HIV prevention interventions.

• Developing an Artificial Intelligence Chatbot to Promote HIV Testing
  • Grant No: R21AI152927
  • This NIAID-funded R21 focuses on the development and evaluation of an artificial intelligence-based "chatbot" application to improve uptake of HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM), including gay and bisexual men, in Malaysia. The project will leverage machine learning technology to create an adaptive and resourceful tool that links and retains vulnerable, high-risk MSM in routine HIV testing and prevention services.

• Improving HIV testing and PrEP for transgender women through mHealth
  • Grant No: R21AI157857
  • This multiple PI award (Yale: Jeffrey Wickersham; UConn: Roman Shrestha) aims to adapt and evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a mHealth smartphone application to improve HIV testing uptake and retention, as well as facilitate linkage to PrEP, for transgender women in Malaysia. The selected application will include a clinician's portal that can empower smaller, community-based health care providers to engage with transgender patients and facilitate continuity of care.