The Awards Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 2008 competition for outstanding abstracts submitted to the HIV/AIDS Section in the following categories:

Best Overall Submission to HIV/AIDS Section

"Abstinence, lies and STDs: Assessing the validity of adolescents' self-report of abstinence."  Ralph DiClemente, PhD , Jessica Sales, PhD, Gina M. Wingood, ScD ,MPH . Rollins School of Public Health, and Center for AIDS Research, Emory University, Atlanta.

Outstanding Submission by HIV/AIDS Student Member and Winner of  the David Rosenstein Award for Outstanding Student Abstract

"Disclosure of HIV-status to male and female sexual partners by HIV-positive men who have sex with men and women (MSMW)." Tara A. McKay and Matt G. Mutchler, PhD, Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, and Sociology, California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Outstanding Submission by New Investigator to HIV/AIDS Section

"Predictors of condom use among repeat HIV-negative testing men who have sex with men." Carol L. Sipan, RN, MPH, Melbourne F. Hovell, PhD, MPH, Elaine Blumberg, MA, Norma Kelley, BS, Michele Ginsberg, MD,  Ming Ji, PhD, Raechel D. Tejidor, MPH, Alicia Vera, MPH, C. Richard Hofstetter. San Diego State University, Graduate School of Public Health; Community Epidemiology, Health & Human Services Agency, County of San Diego; Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program, Naval Medical Center San Diego; and Division of International Health and Cross-Cultural Medicine, University of California, San Diego.

Outstanding Submission on International Topic to HIV/AIDS Section

"Effects of the Malawi BRIDGE Radio Diaries on HIV-related stigma in Malawi: An experimental design in the field." Alisha H. Creel, BA, Kirsten Böse, MHS, Glory Mkandawire,  Lisa K. Folda, MHS, Jane W. Brown, MPH, Rajiv N. Rimal, PhD. Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Malawi BRIDGE Project, Lilongwe,Malawi; and Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs, Baltimore.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

"Constructed narratives of HIV stigma, coping and disclosure among HIV positive African Americans living in the South. Tanisha Grimes, MPH, CHES, Su-I. Hou, DrPH, RN, CHES, Tiffiany Aholou. College of Public Health and Department of Child and Family Development, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.

"Prevalence and correlates of sexual concurrency among urban crack-using men." Robert C. Freeman, PhD, Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Md.

"Psychological distress in HIV-affected persons self-enrolling in HIV-related mental health care."  Andreia Alexander, Enbal Shacham, PhD, Tania B. Basta, PhD, MPH, Michael Reece, PhD, MPH. Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University, Bloomington, and  Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.

"Inside the black box: Process evaluation of a peer group intervention for HIV prevention in Malawi." Linda L. McCreary, RN, PhD, Chrissie P.N. Kaponda, RNM, PhD, Diana N. Jere, RNM, MScN, Rebecca Ngalande, RNM, MPH, Sitingawawo I. Kachingwe, RNM, MScN, Ursula Kafulafula, RNM, MSN, James L. Norr, PhD, Kathleen S. Crittenden, Kathleen F. Norr, PhD. College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago; Kamuzu College of Nursing, University of Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi; and School of Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago.

"Serving Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Mozambique and Namibia: Partnerships to Strengthen Micro Credit and Health Education." Renslow D. Jr Sherer, MD, John Bronson, Dionisio Matos, Nelson Prada, Sandra Dalebout, MPH. Project HOPE and University of Chicago; Project HOPE Mozambique, Maputo, Mozambique; and Project HOPE Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.

"Engagement in primary HIV-medical care :Retention in care issues in a Southern Rural State." Bankole A. Olatosi, MPH, PhD, Carleen H. Stoskopf, ScD, Janice C. Probst, PhD, Amy B. Martin, DrPH, Wayne A. Duffus, MD, PhD. Arnold School of Public Health, Dept of Health Services Policy and Management and South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.; Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego; and HIV and STD Medicine, South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control, Columbia, S.C.

"Depression as a correlate of risky sexual practices, self-efficacy, and communication with male sex partners in African-American female adolescents." Puja Seth, PhD, Paulomi Raiji, PhD, Ralph J. DiClemente, PhD, Gina M. Wingood, MPH ScD, Eve S. Rose, MSPH. Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta.

"HIV sero-postive status disclosure to prospective sex partners and criminal laws that require it: Perspectives of persons who have HIV."  C. Galletly, JD, PhD, Center for AIDS Intervention Research (CAIR), Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

"Women's perceived barriers to spousal involvement in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programs in western Kenya."  Ariane Hollub, Michael Reece, PhD, MPH, Andreia Alexander, Erick Amick, Mallory Metzger. Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.

"Cost of finding one newly-diagnosed HIV case in New York City." Benjamin W. Tsoi, MD, MPH, Vanessa Woog, MPH, Chitra Ramaswamy, MBBS, MPH, David B. Hanna, MS, Elizabeth Begier, MD, MPH, M. Monica Sweeney, MD, MPH, Blayne Cutler, MD, PhD. Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The authors will be recognized at an Awards Ceremony held in conjunction with our section social. Details on time and place to be announced. Thank you to Bonnie Chakravorty, PhD, Mohammed Kanu, PhD, and Tim Sankary, MD, for serving on the Awards Committee.