Christian Grov

ABSTRACT

Although the acceptance of LGBT+ populations has improved dramatically, these communities remain stigmatized and relatively invisible among the general population, particularly outside of urban areas (in which there may be LGBT enclaves/neighborhoods). Innovative methods of identifying LGBT+ individuals are needed to conduct vital health research with these populations. Dr. Grov is leading a U.S. national virtual cohort study of over 8,000 cisgender men, transgender men, and transgender women who have sex with men, and are vulnerable to HIV. Participants from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Guam were enrolled using ads on social/sexual networking apps in 2017-18 and are being followed with annual online surveys through 2022. Participants also provide self-collected samples (oral fluid) for HIV testing (samples returned via mail to a lab for analysis). In this presentation, Dr. Grov will describe the methods used for identifying participants as well as overview major findings from the cohort to date (now completing the 36-month assessments). These include factors associated with HIV-seroconversion, uptake and persistence of PrEP use, and substance use and mental health of the cohort. He will also describe the benefits (e.g., geographic diversity, scale, rural population reach) and challenges (e.g., identifying duplicate/fraudulent participants, attrition) of conducting online cohort studies, with an eye toward their implementation with LGBT+ communities more broadly.  

FILIATION

Dr. Christian Grov is chair of the Department of Community Health and Social Sciences at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. He is also Co-Director, Development Core at the Einstein-CUNY-Rockefeller Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).

His research centers on the sexual health of sexual minority individuals, particularly gay and bisexual men. His work has explored substance use, sexual compulsivity, venues where individuals meet sex partners, and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). His studies have been funded by both the NIH and CDC. He is Editor-in-Chief of Sexuality Research and Social Policy, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Sex Research, and serves on the editorial boards for Archives of Sexual Behavior and the International Journal of Sexual Health. He has (co)authored more than 175 publications including the book In the Company of Men: Inside the Lives of Male Prostitutes (Praeger), and co-edited The Routledge Handbook of Male Sex Work, Culture, and Society

He has previously served as a member of the NYC Department of Health’s HIV Prevention Planning Group as well as the Board of Directors of HOOK, a non-profit dedicated to improving the health and well-being of men who are involved in sex work. Collectively, his body of work seeks to inform HIV and STI prevention, education and health policy.