National Expansion of ISGMH’s 2GETHER Project Awarded $9 Million
Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) faculty member Michael Newcomb, Ph.D., has been awarded a five-year, $9 million U01 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the expansion of his 2GETHER study. Newcomb is the principal investigator on 2GETHER and also serves as the director of ISGMH’s newly established THRIVE Center.
2GETHER aims to reduce HIV incidence by teaching relationship and sexual health promotion skills to young men who have sex with men (YMSM) ages 16 to 34, a population disproportionately affected by HIV in the United States. Because YMSM’s primary romantic and sexual partnerships account for a large proportion of HIV transmission in this population, relationship skills like effective communication and conflict resolution are critical components of HIV prevention for YMSM.
“Ending the HIV epidemic in the US requires providing YMSM with HIV prevention services that address the contexts in which HIV acquisition most frequently occurs, including in new and ongoing romantic relationships. 2GETHER combines two essential services that these young men want, but are often excluded from—HIV prevention programs and relationship education. By offering these services jointly to both single and partnered YMSM, the 2GETHER intervention intends to reduce HIV incidence while also setting these young men up for successful romantic relationships, which offer myriad health benefits of their own, either now or in the future,” said Newcomb.
With this new funding, 2GETHER will expand its reach to a national scale by enrolling 5,000 HIV-negative YMSM participants into a large-scale randomized controlled trial. The 2GETHER intervention program will include online relationship education modules and videoconference-based skills coaching sessions.
“2GETHER was originally developed for male couples, but this grant will allow us to increase the reach of the intervention by enrolling couples, individuals in relationships, and single YMSM. This grant will also focus on engaging Black and Latinx YMSM, transgender men, and people from rural areas. Each of these groups is disproportionately impacted by HIV in the US, but also face many barriers to accessing appropriate HIV prevention services,” said Newcomb.
By involving all YMSM in relationship education, this next iteration of 2GETHER will give an even broader group of young men the skills necessary to navigate conversations about HIV testing, preventive behaviors, and risk with new partners before they reduce use of prevention strategies.
“This national-scale expansion of 2GETHER is the culmination of Dr. Newcomb’s years-long dedication to designing, piloting, and refining an intervention that meets the HIV prevention and relationship education needs of diverse YMSM. Tackling the high rates of HIV diagnoses among YMSM requires creative research and interventions that look at this population as individuals with varied backgrounds, life experiences, and health and wellbeing concerns. This is exactly what 2GETHER does. I’m incredibly proud to have Dr. Newcomb and his talented project staff at ISGMH and look forward to seeing the results,” said ISGMH Director Brian Mustanski.
As the five-year trial progresses, Newcomb and the study’s co-investigators will evaluate the effectiveness of 2GETHER on HIV incidence and a series of secondary outcomes, including rectal STI incidence, PrEP uptake and persistence, condomless anal sex, and relationship functioning. They will also explore the potential for different effects of the 2GETHER interventions based on participants’ relationship status, age, race/ethnicity, rurality, and gender identity. Finally, the project will study various methods for implementing 2GETHER in the community in order to impact clinical practice.
Michael Newcomb, Ph.D., is the principal investigator and a faculty member in the Department of Medical Social Sciences and Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University. Co-investigators at Northwestern are Jody Ciolino, Ph.D.; Dennis Li, Ph.D.; Kathryn Macapagal, Ph.D.; and Brian Mustanski, Ph.D. External collaborators include Ayden Scheim, Ph.D. (Drexel University); Kit Simpson, Ph.D. (Medical University of South Carolina); and Sarah Whitton, Ph.D. (University of Cincinnati). The project period will run from April 2021 to March 2026.
2GETHER Publication Highlights
Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Influences on Sexual Satisfaction in Young Male Couples: Analyses of Actor-Partner Interdependence Models Michael E. Newcomb, Gregory Swann, Junye Ma, David Moskowitz, Emily Bettin, Kathryn Macapagal, Sarah W. Whitton
Examining Minority Stress, Dyadic Coping, and Internalizing Symptoms Among Male Same-Sex Couples Using Actor-Partner Interdependence Models Elissa L. Sarno, Camille Bundy, Christina Dyar, Michael E. Newcomb
Sexual Health of Rural and Urban Young Male Couples in the United States: Differences in HIV Testing, Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Use, and Condom Use Elissa L. Sarno, Emily Bettin, Kyle Jozsa, Michael E. Newcomb
Relationship Education and HIV Prevention for Young Male Couples Administered Online via Videoconference: Protocol for a National Randomized Controlled Trial of 2GETHER Michael E. Newcomb, Elissa L. Sarno, Emily Bettin, James Carey, Jody D. Ciolino, Ricky Hill, Christopher P. Garcia, Kathryn Macapagal, Brian Mustanski, Gregory Swann, Sarah W. Whitton
Improving Young Male Couples' Sexual and Relationship Health in the 2GETHER Program: Intervention Techniques, Environments of Care, and Societal Considerations Kathryn Macapagal, Brian A. Feinstein, Jae A. Puckett, Michael E. Newcomb
The Influence of Internalized Stigma on the Efficacy of an HIV Prevention and Relationship Education Program for Young Male Couples Brian A. Feinstein, Emily Bettin, Gregory Swann, Kathryn Macapagal, Sarah W. Whitton, Michael E. Newcomb
Integrating HIV Prevention and Relationship Education for Young Same-Sex Male Couples: A Pilot Trial of the 2GETHER Intervention Michael E. Newcomb, Kathryn Macapagal, Brian A. Feinstein, Emily Bettin, Gregory Swann, Sarah W. Whitton