2026 Research Projects
This past year, SCPH partnered with the UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) to create meaningful leadership and research projects for underrepresented undergraduates that center equity and community engagement in public health research.
Thirteen students participated in four projects.
Fred Hutch Vaccine Trial Unit Prep Study
Fred Hutch Cancer Center's Vaccine Trials Unit (VTU) is dedicating to researching and developing vaccines for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and more. Three students expanded non-stigmatizing education about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to the University of Washington community. They also increased the recruitment of young adults for Fred Hutch's long-active PrEP trial.
Doxy-PEP Education
DoxyImpact is a research study monitoring participants on doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP). Three students performed a literature review on sexual health communication strategies targeting men who have sex with men and transgender women. They used this information to develop outreach materials to increase recruitment of these populations into the study.
Mpox Education Campaign
Seattle-King County has been experiencing a surge of mpox infections since September 2025. The most vulnerable to mpox are young sexual and gender minorities. Three students evaluated existing mpox education materials. They then created tailored social media content to target young sexual and gender minorities, evaluating the content with community partners.
Enhancing a Community-Engaged HIV Research Training Curriculum
CFAR's Office of Community Engagement built a training curriculum for early-stage HIV investigators, educating them on the core principles of meaningful collaboration with communities. Three students conducted interviews with five researchers and community members living with HIV to add to the curriculum. This helps the investigators hear more about perspectives of individuals within HIV to inform their own positionality.