Disclosure of HIV Status to Sexual Partners Among People With HIV in Singida Regional Referral Hospital of Tanzania: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Michael Relf, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, is the Mary T. Champagne Distinguished Professor of Nursing and Interim Dean in the Duke University School of Nursing and a Research Professor in the Duke Global Health Institute.  From the period 2008-2014, he served as the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Director of the Accelerated BSN Program in the School of Nursing at Duke University. From 2014-2023, he served as the Associate Dean for Global and Community Health Affairs. 

His research focuses on the psychosocial aspects of HIV using mixed-methods particularly focusing on intimate partner violence; HIV-related stigma, intersectional stigma, and experiences with everyday discrimination among persons living with HIV; and interventions to promote engagement in HIV-oriented primary medical care and disclosure.  Additionally, through his research, he has documented the role of the professional and advanced practice nurse in the prevention, care and treatment of persons at risk for or living with HIV.

Dr. Relf has examined the relationship between intimate partner violence and HIV risk behaviors among men who have sex with men. This work received international press attention (Germany, France, Chile, United Kingdom, Romania, Turkey, Spain) and appeared on the front page of The Boston Globe (Dec. 18, 2002) and in the Toronto Star (Feb. 15, 2003).  As a co-investigator on a President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funded project to build nursing capacity in the context of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, Dr. Relf, in collaboration with colleagues from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe, published the Essential nursing competencies related to HIV and AIDS (see Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS, Care, 22 (Supplement 1), e5-e40).  Subsequently, these competencies have been adapted to the context of HIV/AIDS nursing practice in Canada and Thailand. He has also conducted a national practice validation study to understand the entry-level competencies required of primary care nurse practitioners providing HIV specialty care (JANAC, 2016).  

Dr. Relf’s research has been funded by the American Nurses Foundation; Sigma Theta Tau International; The Special Projects of National Significance, HIV-AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; the National Institutes of Nursing Research/National Institutes of Health; the Fogarty International Center/National Institutes of Health; and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Dr. Relf is an Advanced HIV/AIDS Certified Registered Nurse (AACRN), a certified adult clinical nurse specialist (ACNS-BC), and certified nurse educator (CNE).  He was recognized by the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care with the Frank Lamendola Achievement Award for Nursing Leadership in HIV Care in 2003 and the Spirit of Nursing Award for mentoring in 2006.  He was selected for Fellowship into the American Academy of Nursing in 2008 and was the co-chair of the Emerging and Infectious Diseases Expert Panel from 2008 - 2010.  In 2019, he was selected for Fellowship into the Academy of Nursing Education of the National League for Nursing.

Prior to joining DUSON in 2008, Dr. Relf was the Chair of the Department of Nursing at Georgetown University (2001 – 2008) and the Associate Medical Administrator/Director of Nursing and Clinical Support Services at Whitman-Walker Clinic (1999 – 2001). He earned his BS with a major in nursing from South Dakota University, his MS in nursing administration in healthcare services from Georgetown University, and his PhD in nursing from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Bosworth is a health services researcher and Deputy Director of the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT)  at the Durham VA Medical Center. He is also Vice Chair of Education and Professor of Population Health Sciences. He is also a Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Nursing at Duke University Medical Center and Adjunct Professor in Health Policy and Administration at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests comprise three overarching areas of research: 1) clinical research that provides knowledge for improving patients’ treatment adherence and self-management in chronic care; 2) translation research to improve access to quality of care; and 3) eliminate health care disparities. 

Dr. Bosworth is the recipient of an American Heart Association established investigator award, the 2013 VA Undersecretary Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research (The annual award is the highest honor for VA health services researchers), and a VA Senior Career Scientist Award. In terms of self-management, Dr. Bosworth has expertise developing interventions to improve health behaviors related to hypertension, coronary artery disease, and depression, and has been developing and implementing tailored patient interventions to reduce the burden of other chronic diseases. These trials focus on motivating individuals to initiate health behaviors and sustaining them long term and use members of the healthcare team, particularly pharmacists and nurses. He has been the Principal Investigator of over 30 trials resulting in over 400 peer reviewed publications and four books. This work has been or is being implemented in multiple arenas including Medicaid of North Carolina, private payers, The United Kingdom National Health System Direct, Kaiser Health care system, and the Veterans Affairs.

Areas of Expertise: Health Behavior, Health Services Research, Implementation Science, Health Measurement, and Health Policy