There’s a shift happening in HIV prevention and care, and 威尼斯人娱乐城 public health researcher Joseph Lightner, Ph.D., is gathering the data to back up that shift. 根据威尼斯人娱乐城护理与健康研究学院助理教授莱特纳的说法，艾滋病不再是一种行为疾病，而是一种贫困疾病。 目前用于治疗这种疾病的药物非常有效，以至于遵循这种治疗方案的艾滋病毒感染者可以在血液中几乎检测不到艾滋病毒的情况下度过一生。
根据美国国家过敏和传染病研究所的说法，有大量的临床证据确凿地证明，当艾滋病病毒无法检测到时，它就不会传播，科学界称之为U=U。 因此，鼓励和维持对艾滋病毒的治疗是防治这一疾病的有力武器。
像莱特纳这样的研究人员正在寻找除了抗逆转录病毒治疗之外的干预措施，帮助艾滋病毒感染者成功地达到无法检测的病毒载量，即血液中的艾滋病毒数量。 莱特研究的其中一项倡议是KC Life 360，这是堪萨斯城公共卫生部门的一个项目，为种族和少数民族社区的低收入、无保险和保险不足的艾滋病毒感染者提供住房和就业支持。
According to Lightner, it’s a critical group in HIV prevention, since most new HIV cases are occurring in these marginalized individuals. 这一认识促使艾滋病毒护理社区在全国范围内采用住房优先的模式，因为数据显示，无家可归和住房不稳定是艾滋病毒管理的主要威胁。
“When someone is living on the street, they're not going to take their meds. It's not feasible for an unhoused person to carry around a three-month supply of their HIV meds,” Lightner said. “If we get these individuals housed and they have a safe place to take and store their medications, downstream that translates into treatment as prevention and reduces later infections.”
与堪萨斯城卫生局合作，Lightner检查了干预措施的结果，以改善KC Life 360中个人的住房和就业。 他的研究发现，参与研究的人有住房的可能性增加了25倍，改善就业状况的可能性增加了两倍。 最重要的是，数据显示，在研究对象中，病毒抑制得到了改善。
“What I want people to see from this research is that to solve the HIV epidemic, it's going to take multi-level interventions that focus on the whole person," Lightner said. “这些人和其他人一样，都想成为社会的一员。”
Although Lightner’s primary research focus within public health is physical activity, he continues to come back to HIV research. 他的团队还研究了艾滋病耻辱感如何在职业和社会上影响个人，以及如何最好地为艾滋病毒感染者提供治疗。 He said that the good thing about public health is that it’s broad, and the research methods translate from one field to another.
For Lightner, there’s also a deeply personal connection to HIV research.
“As a gay kid growing up in the 1980s, my family always told me that AIDS is a death sentence if you are gay. Couple that with having an uncle die of HIV/AIDS complications in the 1990s, the disease has been a part of my life since childhood,” Lightner said. “I think many gay men have similar experiences. By doing this research, I hope we can destigmatize the disease and make the world a better place for our friends and family.”