Vivian Go, PhD

About

Vivian Go is Professor of Health Behavior, Associate Director of the Center for AIDS Research Social and Behavioral Science Core, and Member of the Institute for Global and Infectious Diseases (IGHID) at UNC. Her research focuses on the intersection between HIV and co-morbidities including mental health and opioid use disorders, stigma and discrimination among key populations including people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men, and scaling up evidence-based HIV interventions. Her work integrates intervention research, implementation science, qualitative methods, and mixed methods.

Examples of current or recently funded projects include REDART (Reducing Alcohol to Improve ART Adherence), a NIDA R01 randomized controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of two brief alcohol reduction interventions to the standard of care among antiretroviral therapy (ART) clients in Vietnam; SNaP (Systems Navigation and Psychosocial Counseling); a NIDA R01 implementation science trial to scale up an HIV intervention among people who inject drugs who are living with HIV in Vietnam; OHOP (Ohio Opioid Project) a NIDA/CDC/SAMSA UG3/UH3 to identify and address harm reduction service delivery gaps in southern rural Ohio. She is also co-Director of an NIH D43 implementation science training program for Vietnamese researchers and policymakers. 

Dr. Go has worked in Vietnam for over 20 years where she and Dr. Tran Viet Ha (In-Country Director and Assistant Professor at UNC) established a UNC-Vietnam site comprising over 30 full-time Vietnamese staff who are highly trained and skilled in conducting large clinical and behavioral trials. The UNC-Vietnam office is based in Hanoi and is registered with the Vietnam government. UNC-Vietnam is one of five IGHID flagship sites and one of four international clinical research sites (CRS) within the UNC Chapel Hill Clinical Trials Unit. The Vietnam CRS has access to a range of studies including investigations of ART, cure and immune modulators, HIV-associated disease and treatment complications and viral co-infections. The Vietnam CRS is currently conducting HPTN 083, an ongoing study of the efficacy of a long-acting injectable to prevent HIV in transgender women and men who have sex with men. UNC-Vietnam has longstanding collaborations with the Hanoi Medical University and the Vietnam Authority for HIV/AIDS Control of the MoH.

Vivian Go in the Gillings News

Representative Courses

HBEH 752 Public Health Intervention and Evaluation | Syllabus

HBEH784: Implementation Science in Global Health | Syllabus

Research Activities

HIV/AIDS
Implementation science 
Stigma 
Mental health
Substance abuse
Unhealthy alcohol use
Opioid use disorder
Global Health

Key Publications

The Cost-Effectiveness of Adapting and Implementing a Brief Intervention to Target Frequent Alcohol Use Among Persons with HIV in Vietnam. Blackburn NA, Go VF, Bui Q, Hutton H, Tampi RP, Sripaipan T, Ha TV, Latkin CA, Golden S, Golin C, Chander G, Frangakis C, Gottfredson N, Dowdy DW (2021). AIDS and Behavior, 5(7), 2108-2119.

The longitudinal association between depression, anxiety symptoms and HIV outcomes, and the modifying effect of alcohol dependence among ART clients with hazardous alcohol use in Vietnam. Nguyen MX, McNaughton Reyes HL, Pence BW, Muessig K, Hutton HE, Latkin CA, Dowdy D, Chander G, Lancaster KE, Frangakis C, Sripaipan T, Ha Tran V, Go VF (2021). Journal of the International AIDS Society, 24(Supp 2), e25746.

Implementing Implementation Research: Teaching Implementation Research to HIV Researchers. . Schwartz SR, Smith JD, Hoffmann C, Hansoti B, Mishra S, Means AR, Go V, Sherr K, Nash D, Sullivan P, Baral S (1970). Current HIV/AIDS Report.

"Now we are seeing the tides wash in": Trauma and the opioid epidemic in rural Appalachian Ohio. Schalkoff CA*, Richard, EL, Piscalko HM, Sibley AL*, Brook DL, Lancaster K, Miller WC, Go VF (2021). Substance Use and Misuse, 56(5), 650-659.

"I Was Raised in Addiction": Constructions of the Self and the Other in Discourses of Addiction and Recovery. . Sibley AL*, Schalkoff CA*, Richard EL, Piscalko HM, Brook DL, Lancaster KE, Miller WC, Go VF (2020). Qualitative Health Research, 30(14), 2278-2290.

Alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and intimate partner violence perpetration: A longitudinal analysis among men with HIV in northern Vietnam. Hershow RB*, Reyes HLM, Ha TV, Chander G, Mai NVT, Sripaipan T, Frangakis C, Dowdy DW, Latkin C, Hutton HE, Pettifor A, Maman S, Go VF (1970). PLoS One, 15(10), e0240674.

Alcohol abstinence stigma and alcohol use among HIV patients in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam. Lancaster KE, Hetrick A, Sripaipan T, Ha TV, Hutton HE, Chander G, Latkin CA, Dowdy D, Frangakis C, Quynh BX, Go VF (1970). PLoS One, 15(9), e0239330.

Effect of 2 Integrated Interventions on Alcohol Abstinence and Viral Suppression Among Vietnamese Adults With Hazardous Alcohol Use and HIV: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Go VF, Hutton HE, Ha TV, Chander G, Latkin CA, Mai NVT, Quynh BX, Nguyen V, Sripaipan T, Lancaster KE, Blackburn N*, Hershow RB*, Dowdy DW, Frangakis C (1970). JAMA Network Open, 3(9), e2017115. .

Comparing a standard and tailored approach to scaling up an evidence-based intervention for antiretroviral therapy for people who inject drugs in Vietnam: study protocol for a cluster randomized hybrid type III trial. Nguyen MXB*, Chu AV, Powell BJ, Tran HV, Nguyen LH, Dao ATM, Pham MD, Vo SH, Bui NH, Dowdy DW, Latkin CA, Lancaster KE, Pence BW, Sripaipan T, Hoffman I, Miller WC, Go VF (1970). Implementation Science , 15(1), 64.

"You are not clean until you're not on anything": Perceptions of medication-assisted treatment in rural Appalachia. . Richard EL*, Schalkoff CA*, Piscalko HM, Brook DL, Sibley AL*, Lancaster KE, Miller WC, Go VF (1970). International Journal of Drug Policy , 102704.

The Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Partnership (SHARP) for Mental Health Capacity Building: a program protocol for building implementation science and mental health research and policymaking capacity in Malawi and Tanzania. Akiba CF*, Go V, Mwapasa V, Hosseinipour M, Gaynes BN, Amberbir A, Udedi M, Pence BW (1970). International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 13(70).

The opioid and related drug epidemics in rural Appalachia: A systematic review of populations affected, risk factors, and infectious diseases. Schalkoff CA*, Lancaster K, Gaynes BN, Wang V, Pence BW, Miller WC, Go VF (2020). Substance Abuse, 41(1), 35-69.

Cultural adaptation of two evidence-based alcohol interventions for antiretroviral treatment clinic patients in Vietnam. Hutton HE, Lancaster KE, Zuskov D*, Mai NVT, Bui Q, Chander G, Latkin CA, Vu PT, Sripaipan T, Ha TV, Go VF (2019). Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care.

Systematic review of multi-level stigma interventions: State of the science and future directions. Rao D, Elshafei A, Nguyen M*, Hatzenbuehler ML, Frey S, Go VF (1970). BMC Medicine, 17(1), 41.

Client and provider perspectives on antiretroviral treatment uptake and adherence among people who inject drugs in Indonesia, Ukraine and Vietnam: HPTN 074. Go VF, Hershow RB*, Kiriazova T, Sarasvita R, Bui Q, Latkin CA, Rose S, Hamilton E, Lancaster KE, Metzger D, Hoffman IF, Miller WC (1970). AIDS and Behavior.

A scalable, integrated intervention to engage people who inject drugs in HIV care and medication-assisted treatment (HPTN 074): a randomised, controlled phase 3 feasibility and efficacy study. Miller WC, Hoffman IF, Hanscom BS, Ha TV, Dumchev K, Djoerban Z, Rose SM, Latkin CA, Metzger DS, Lancaster KE, Go VF, Dvoriak S, Mollan KR, Reifeis SA, Piwowar-Manning EM, Richardson P, Hudgens MG, Hamilton EL, Sugarman J, Eshleman SH, Susami H, Chu VA, Djauzi S, Kiriazova T, Bui DD, Strathdee SA, Burns DN (1970). Lancet, 392(10149), 747-759.

Increased Survival Among HIV-Infected PWID Receiving a Multi-Level HIV Risk and Stigma ReductionIntervention: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial. Go VF, Frangakis C, Le Minh N, Ha TV, Latkin CA, Sripaipan T, Zelaya CE, Davis WW, Celentano DD, Quan VM. (2017). Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 74(2), 166-174.

The association between substance use and sub-optimal HIV treatment engagement among HIV-infectedfemale sex workers in Lilongwe, Malaw. Lancaster KE, Lungu T, Mmodzi P, Hosseinipour MC, Chadwick K, Powers KA, Pence BW, Go VF, Hoffman IF, Miller WC (2017). AIDS Care, 29(2), 197-203.

Social Desirability Response Bias and Other Factors That May Influence Self-Reports of Substance Use and HIV Risk Behaviors: A Qualitative Study of Drug Users in Vietnam. Latkin CA, Mai NV, Ha TV, Sripaipan T, Zelaya C, Le Minh N, Morales G, Go VF (2016). AIDS Education and Prevention, 28(5), 417-425.

Education