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PRODID:-//Columba Systems Ltd//NONSGML CPNG/SpringViewer/ICal Output/3.3-
 M3//EN
VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20190327T132145Z
DTSTART:20190402T133000Z
DTEND:20190402T143000Z
SUMMARY:Advances in Data Science Seminar:'HIV Transmission and Opportunit
 ies for Health Promotion
UID:{http://www.columbasystems.com/customers/uom/gpp/eventid/}d18y-jtr8n2
 2a-pervtg
DESCRIPTION:There's still time to register for next week's Advances in Da
 ta Science Seminar taking place on Tuesday 2nd April 2019.\n\n Elizabeth
  Fearon will present "Social and sexual networks among gay men and other
  men who have sex with men in Nairobi and Johannesburg: HIV transmission
  and opportunities for health promotion"\n\nAbstract: \n\nGay men and ot
 her men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by H
 IV across the world\, including in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Studies of 
 MSM in SSA have found high HIV prevalence and incidence\, alongside wide
 spread experience of social stigma\, violence\, harassment and poor acce
 ss to sexual health services. The incentives for MSM to socialise and se
 ek partners online using socialising apps and sites are high\, and corre
 spondingly\, there is great potential to use online social media venues 
 to provide information or referrals for in-person HIV prevention\, testi
 ng and care services. \n\nDynamic networks are central to understanding 
 both HIV transmission and health behavioural influence. Socialising patt
 erns influence the success of health promotion approaches that rely heav
 ily on utilising peer educators and peer-driven intervention models. Soc
 ial networks also form the basis of many sampling and surveillance metho
 dologies among ‘hidden’ populations and those lacking sampling frames\, 
 such as respondent driven sampling\, a form of chain-referral sampling. 
  \n\nThis talk will describe the context\, motivation and proposed metho
 ds for using data about online and offline socialising patterns\, sexual
  partnerships\, and HIV status and engagement in care from representativ
 e samples of MSM from Nairobi and Johannesburg recruited using responden
 t-driven sampling to develop dynamic network models of HIV transmission\
 , explore the potential role of social media use in HIV transmission\, a
 nd bring networks-based insights to improving the targeting of health pr
 omotion and inform public health intervention development. \n  \n\nBio: 
 Elizabeth Fearon is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Depart
 ment for Global Health and Development at the London School of Hygiene a
 nd Tropical Medicine. Her research has been focused on social influences
  on HIV risk\, including friendship network influences\, HIV epidemic su
 rveillance\, intervention development and evaluation research in East an
 d Southern Africa\, particularly among highly affected and marginalised 
 populations in these settings. She has recently begun an MRC Skills Deve
 lopment Fellowship at the LSHTM\, collaborating with the University of M
 anchester\, to apply dynamic network modelling approaches to questions o
 f HIV transmission and prevention in the context of increasing online so
 cialising and partnership formation among gay men and other MSM in Nairo
 bi and Johannesburg.\n\n \nLight refreshments will be provided after the
  talk.
STATUS:TENTATIVE
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre\, Michael Smith Building\, Manchester
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