March 25, 2009. Jessica Rowe, CCNMTL educational technologist and Triangle Initiative project manager, will travel to South Africa this week with Robert Remien, research scientist at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies and associate professor of clinical psychology (in psychiatry), to launch a pilot test of Masivukeni, a multimedia adaptation of an HIV treatment adherence program that CCNMTL and Remien have partnered to create. Dr. Remien's study is funded by a two-year research grant (R34) from the National Institute of Mental Health. Masivukeni, loosely translated, means "let's wake up" in Xhosa, the language that is most commonly spoken among South African patients who will participate in the study.

While in South Africa, Rowe and Remien - along with Reuben Robbins and Jenifar Chowdhury from the HIV Center - will work with their South African collaborators to finalize all study implementation procedures. The team will also train two adherence counselors working in an HIV clinic in Cape Town to deliver the new multimedia intervention to 30 patients who are experiencing challenges adhering to their HIV treatment. These patients will identify and bring a "treatment buddy" with them to five of the six intervention sessions. The control group (which will receive the clinic's standard treatment and counseling) will comprise 30 other patients who are experiencing adherence challenges. The study team will also train a South African project coordinator to deliver neuropsychiatric and psychosocial assessments to collect data. Prior to their return to New York, Rowe and Remien will meet with colleagues from government health agencies and NGOs in Cape Town and its surrounding regions to discuss the research and explore ways to implement a broader study if the results of the pilot prove promising.