Kate Muessig (pronounced like MESS-ig) is a Professor in the College of Nursing and the founding Co-Director of the Institute on Digital Health and Innovation. 

Her background is in public health and her research uses digital health tools and behavior-change to improve HIV prevention and care in the US and globally. She has over 12 years of experience training doctoral students in the design and implementation of successful dissertation research and funding proposals and she teaches in our doctoral program here at the College of Nursing. She have served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on 27 current and completed federally-funded research and training grants.

EDUCATION

PHD Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
BA, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

HONORS/AWARDS

Developmental Research Grant Award, Vietnam, UNC Provost Fund
Developmental Research Grant Award, China, UNC Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
Open Access Award from the Scholarly Communications Coordinating Committee, UNC Libraries
Loan Repayment Program Award for Health Disparities Research, National Institutes of Health
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA), National Institutes of Health
Fulbright Institute for International Education, China Scholar, U.S. Department of State
Fogarty International Center Research Scholar, China, National Institutes of Health

Grants & Research Activity

Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) Scientific Leadership Center
Sponsor: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (UM2 HD111102 - 6979)
Role: Statistical and Data Management Center mPI, 01/25/2023 – 11/30/29

Linking Youth to PrEP Services (LYPS)
Sponsor: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (UM2 HD111102)
Role: mPI, 01/25/23 – 11/30/27

Ending the HIV Epidemic with Equity: An All-facility intervention to reduce the Impact of Structural Racism and Discrimination on Patient and Healthcare Worker Wellbeing
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (R01NR020583)
Role: Co-I, 07/01/22 – 04/30/27

Meet me where I am: A multilevel strategy to increase PrEP uptake and persistence among young sexual and gender minority men in rural NC
Sponsor: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (R61MH130641)
Role: mPI, 07/01/22 – 06/30/25

 Vuka+ : Testing and Refinement of a Novel Smartphone-Based PrEP Adherence Support Intervention for Adolescent Girls and Youth Women in South Africa
Sponsor: USAID/CONRAD (7200AA20CA00030)
Role: Co-I, 02/01/2021 – 01/31/2024

Promoting PrEP adherence for men who have sex with men of color : more options, less barriers
Sponsor: National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (CDC) (U01PS005236)
Role: Co-I, 09/30/21 – 09/29/26

A multidimensional digital approach to address vaccine hesitancy and increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among African American young adults in the South
Sponsor: National Institute on Minority Health Disparities (R01MD016834)
Role: Co-I, 04/20/21 – 01/31/25

Increasing engagement and improving HIV care outcomes via stigma reduction in an online social networking intervention among racially diverse young MSM and transgender women
Sponsor: National Institute on Minority Health Disparities (R01MD013623)
Role: mPI, 08/16/18 – 03/31/23

Piloting a Sequential Multiple-Assignment Randomization Trial to evaluate AllyQuest: an mHealth intervention for HIV-positive young MSM to optimize HIV medication adherence and care outcomes
Sponsor: National Institutes of Mental Health (R34MH118058)
Role: PI, 07/01/18 – 11/30/22

Key Publications

* Indicates students/mentees

Muessig KE, Golinkoff JM, Hightow-Weidman LB, Rochelle A, Mulawa M, Hirshfield S, Rosengren-Hovee L, Aryal S, Buckner N, Wilson S, Watson DL, Houang S,* Bauermeister JA. Increasing HIV Testing and Viral Suppression via Stigma Reduction in a Social Networking mHealth Intervention Among Black and Latinx Young Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender Women (HealthMpowerment): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Research Protocols, 2020;9(12):e24043. 

Li CY,* Giovenco D,* Dong W,* Smith MK, Golin CE, Fisher EB, Lei G, Jiang H, Tang PY, Muessig KE. “Understanding how gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in China cope with HIV care-related stressors.” AIDS Education and Prevention, 2021; 33(1):46-61. 

Muessig KE, Knudtson KA, Soni K, Larsen MA, Traum D, Dong W,* Conserve D, Leuski A, Artstein R, Hightow-Weidman LB. “I didn’t tell you sooner because I didn’t know how to handle it myself.” Developing a virtual reality program to support HIV-status disclosure decisions. Digital Culture & Education, 2018; 10:22-48. 

Muessig KE, Rosen DL, Farel CE, White BL, Filene EJ, Wohl DA. “Inside these fences is our own little world”: Prison-based HIV testing and HIV-related stigma among incarcerated men and women. AIDS Education and Prevention, 2016; 28(2):103–16. 

Muessig KE, Panter AT, Mouw MS, Amola K, Stein KE,* Murphy JS, Maiese EM, Wohl DA. “Medication-taking practices of patients on antiretroviral HIV therapy: Control, power, and intentionality.” AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 2015; 29(11):606-16. 

Muessig KE, Bien CH,* Wei C, Lo EJ,* Yang M,* Tucker JD, Yang L, Meng G, Hightow-Weidman LB. “A mixed-methods study on the acceptability of using eHealth for HIV prevention and sexual health care among men who have sex with men in China.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2015; 17(4):e100. 

Full list of publications can be found here: NCBI, Google Scholar