Research Projects

Launched in 2017, the Structural Determinants & Social Transitions among Adolescents and Young Adults in Rakai (SSTAR) project is a five-year NIH-funded project undertaking mixed methods research to investigate the influence of social structural determinants on the health of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) in collaboration with the Rakai Health Science Program (RHSP) in Uganda.

The SSTAR project aims to: 

1. To define risk factors for and trends over time in key social transitions and HIV risk behaviors and acquisition using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods. 

2. To examine the influence on HIV acquisition of social structural determinants directly and as mediated by social transitions - using longitudinal data since 1994. 

3. To explore the influence of social determinants and social transitions on HIV acquisition in hotspot communities with high HIV incidence, trading and transport hub communities with intermediate levels of HIV incidence, and settled, rural communities with low HIV incidence.