Dr. Brian Dodge has been awarded a R21 research grant from the National Institutes of Health entitled “Sexual Health Among Bisexual Men” for $425,000. Team members of this developmental research project include Dr. Barbara Van Der Pol (Department of Infectious Disease, IU School of Medicine), Dr. Michael Reece (IU Department of Applied Health Science, School of HPER), Dr. J. Dennis Fortenberry (Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine), Dr. David Malebranche (Department of General Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine), and Mr. Omar Martinez (IU Schools of Law and HPER).

The aims of the study are: 1. To identify the individual and socio-cultural determinants related to their sexual interactions that increase risk of HIV acquisition through in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of bisexual men in an under-served area of the Midwestern United States (Indianapolis); 2. To evaluate the feasibility of engaging a diverse sample of bisexual men, in terms of recruitment and participation, in a multi-method study aimed at understanding the levels of risk to sexual health in order to inform a subsequent sexual health intervention; and 3. To acquire information useful for designing relevant, accessible, and culturally appropriate HIV/STI prevention information to be used in a subsequent grant proposal aimed at promoting sexual health for bisexual men via interventions tailored to the needs of these men.

The grant is sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).