Student Spotlight - Tiara Willie

As a third-year doctoral student and NIMH fellow at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA) at Yale, Tiara is focusing her research on understanding the role of intimate partner violence (IPV) on women’s engagement in HIV prevention, specifically the novel biomedical HIV prevention method: pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP.

Women who experience IPV, explains Tiara, are at an increased risk for HIV acquisition due to several social, psychological, and structural factors. For example, some women have limited power in their relationships, which can make it difficult to negotiate safe sex strategies. This is key as some studies have also shown that their partners are more likely to be HIV-positive or have multiple sexual partners. What is not known is if women who experience IPV can successfully and safely take PrEP and maintain PrEP care. For example, a partner exhibiting controlling behaviors might prevent a woman from taking the medication. “I hope to find an effective HIV prevention strategy without creating further harm,” says Tiara.

Tiara was recently selected to receive one of Yale’s 2016 Dean’s Emerging Scholars Research Awards from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Office of the Provost. This award was established by the university to expand and develop the pool of young scholars who will contribute to the excellence and diversity of future generations of faculty both here at Yale and throughout higher education. Tiara plans to use the award to attend an international AIDS conference in the spring of 2017. She plans to begin a discussion about the implications of using PrEP for women who experience IPV across social and cultural contexts.