Kathryn Derose, professor of community health education in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS), recently joined colleagues from the Project to Improve Food Security (ProMeSA) II research study to present progress on the national clinical trial in the Dominican Republic with leaders from the trial’s prime academic partner, the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), and multiple government agencies and community partners.

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ProMeSA is a full-scale efficacy trial of an integrated urban gardens and peer-led nutritional counseling intervention being implemented across 20 HIV clinics in the D.R. Derose is principal investigator on the $3.4 million, NIH-funded project, which builds on previous work in Latin America and the Caribbean, including a pilot project in the Dominican Republic that showed positive results. In addition to Derose, the international research team includes researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and UASD, as well as collaborators from RAND, the Dominican Ministries of Agriculture and Public Health, the Dominican National HIV/AIDS Council, and the United Nations World Food Program.

UASD leadership commented that an estimated “79,000 people are living with HIV [in the D.R.], many of them exposed to conditions of food insecurity, poverty and limited access to adequate food. These conditions have a direct impact on nutritional status, adherence to antiretroviral treatment and quality of life, which makes it essential to develop comprehensive interventions that transcend the clinical approach.”

In their presentation, Derose and her colleagues articulated their efforts through the ProMeSA II intervention to provide peer-led nutritional counseling, food production through gardens and community accompaniment, and to promote healthy eating practices adapted to the reality of people living with HIV.

In addition to their research findings, the team presented a recipe book developed through the study, “Family Recipe Book: Recipes from the Garden,” which offers low-cost and healthy options to strengthen adherence to treatment and the quality of life of patients.

The research team concluded by highlighting the value of collaboration between academia, the health sector, and the agricultural sector to sustainably address the nutritional challenges associated with HIV, and to continue to strengthen inter-institutional alliances that help to improve the national response to HIV, with emphasis on nutrition, food security and the sustainability of interventions.

More information about the ProMeSA II study can be found in this 2022 paper published in the journal AIDS and Behavior.