Winter 2016

“I’ve spent most of my career focused on statistical methods development and applications to HIV and AIDS research,” says Assistant Professor Ashley Buchanan. She comes to URI this fall from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where her postdoctoral research included collaborating with colleagues in Tanzania on the CDC/PEPFAR project addressing questions related to HIV and nutrition, as well as developing new statistical methods for a project in a population facing substance abuse issues, specifically an educational HIV prevention among injection drug users.

It was the latter that inspired her to direct her research career to statistical methods development and applications at the intersection of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse issues. “It’s a complicated, rich problem,” says Buchanan.“These populations are facing overlapping issues—such as the stigma around both HIV and substance abuse, or the social and biological influences that generate increased risk.”

“These populations are facing overlapping issues—such as the stigma around both HIV and substance abuse, or the social and biological influences that generate increased risk.”

Since arriving at URI, she has been working with URI Department of Computer Science and Statistics Assistant Professor Natallia Katenka to consider how the benefits of intervention might work at a community level. “We know there are behaviors that can help to prevent the spread of HIV—treatments, condoms, circumcision, abstinence, needle exchange. But behavioral change is not easy, and it’s subject to social influences. We have an interesting opportunity through studying networks of individuals connected by risk behavior to see how we can better enable individuals in communities to support their peers.”

Such support is particularly critical in disadvantaged or marginalized populations often most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and substance use disorders. “I already knew that HIV and substance abuse disproportionally affects these populations, where people are vulnerable and up against a lot,” says Buchanan. “But the more you look at it, the more you realize how strongly it is correlated—and it’s heartbreaking. I hope that my research can help to improve the health and well-being of individuals facing these issues.”

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