Renessa Williams
University of Miami, FL·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Young Black men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV face worse HIV-related outcomes than non-Hispanic White men. They develop age-related diseases earlier and more severely, and die from HIV at higher rates.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
men who have sex with men
Black MSM
health disparities
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2027
What they work on
- Determine how cannabis use, measured with biological markers, relates to markers of inflammation and to the length of telomeres (protective chromosome caps) in white blood cells of young Black MSM with HIV.
- Evaluate whether individual, interpersonal and community-level social stress strengthens or weakens the link between cannabis use and both inflammation and telomere length in Black MSM with HIV.
- Analyze data collected over time on cannabis, stress and immune markers to lay the groundwork for a larger cohort study of these biological and behavioral pathways.
More about the research
Stress early in life is linked to chronic inflammation and to shorter telomeres, the protective caps on chromosomes that shorten with aging. Both are tied to HIV-related illness. Cannabis is of interest because evidence links it to anti-inflammatory processes and because legal and social acceptance of it is growing quickly. Earlier studies, however, mostly took a snapshot at one point in time, relied on people reporting their own use, and did not focus on this group.
Why it matters
Young Black MSM aged 16–35 with HIV have the highest rates of illness in their group. Identifying changeable factors early in life, such as cannabis use and exposure to social stress, could help narrow HIV-related health disparities. It could also guide future interventions that limit inflammation and early aging-related disease in Black MSM living with HIV.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jason Zucker
Columbia University, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Identify factors that predict engagement in Doxy-PEP care and effective use, following 300 users and 200 eligible non-users over time with measures based on the information–motivation–behavioral skills model.
Adovich Rivera
Northwestern University, IL·Public Health & Epidemiology
Measure the prevalence and incidence of cardiometabolic conditions and cardiovascular disease by sexual orientation, using linked Kaiser Permanente Research Bank surveys and electronic health records.
Lisa Eaton
University of Connecticut, CT·Public Health & Epidemiology
Enroll 500 HIV-negative Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) who test positive for substance use, and give evidence-based counseling to help them access PrEP, a daily HIV-prevention medicine.
The school
University of Miami: 30 labs on PI Pages, $559M a year on research, 297 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.