Lisa B. Hightow-Weidman, MD, MPH is a Distinguished and Endowed McKenzie Professor in the College of Nursing at the Florida State University (FSU). She is the founding director of the Institute on Digital Health and Innovation at FSU.

Dr. Hightow-Weidman is an expert in the development, implementation and evaluation of digital health interventions (DHIs) to address the HIV Care Continuum for adolescents and young adults, particularly among sexual and gender minority populations. Her research interests include technology-based HIV prevention and treatment interventions for adolescents and emerging adults, specifically interventions that incorporate game-based elements, self-monitoring and tracking and provision of social support to increase engagement and impact health behavior. She has developed technology-based interventions that aim to increase uptake and adherence to biomedical prevention and treatment, to increase HIV diagnosis, linkage and retention in care and to ameliorate stigma and increase resilience. She has published nearly 200 peer-reviewed articles on these topics and has a proven track record of successful funding from the National Institutes of Health, HIV/AIDS Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

EDUCATION

Post-Graduate
Infectious Diseases Fellowship, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC
Masters in Public Health, Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC
Residency, Internal Medicine, Stanford University Palo Alto, California
Medical 
M.D. , University of Virginia School of Medicine Charlottesville, Virginia
Undergraduate
B.A. English, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

HONORS/AWARDS

2018 Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) HIVMA HIV Research Award
2016 John Bartlett Innovation in Research Award, North Carolina Community AIDS Fund
2004 Fellows travel award, Retrovirus conference
2004 Fellows travel award, IDSA conference
2003 Fellows travel award, Retrovirus conference
1997 Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society  

RESEARCH STUDIES

UM2HD111102-01 (Hightow-Weidman/Hosek) 01/25/23-11/30/29
Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Intervention (ATN) Scientific Leadership Center
Role: m-Principal Investigator

4R33TW011752-04 (Lelutiu-Weinberger) 08/01/22-06/30/25
NIH pass thru Columbia University: Preparing for Pre-exposure prophylaxis implementation in Central-Eastern European countries with low access to biomedical prevention
Role: Co-Investigator

RFA-AI-21-058 (Elopre) 10/03/22-08/21/27
NIH pass thru University of Alabama at Birmingham: CAMELLIA Cohort: A longitudinal study to understand sexual health and prevention among women in Alabama 
Role: Co-Investigator 

R61MH130641-01 (Rutstein/Muessig) 07/01/22-06/30/27
NIH: Meet me where I am: A multilevel strategy to increase PrEP uptake and persistence among young sexual and gender minority men in rural NC. 
Role: Co-Investigator 

1R01NR020583-01 (Lelutiu-Weinberger/Browne) 07/01/22-04/30/27
NIH pass thru Columbia University: 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 
Role: Co-Investigator 
 
UG3AI169631 (Hightow-Weidman/Hosek/French) 05/19/22-04/30/27
NIH pass thru John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County: Keeping it LITE 2: Exploring HIV Risk in Vulnerable Youth with Limited Interaction and Digital Health Intervention (LITE-2) 
Role: m-Principal Investigator 
 
1-U01-PS005236-01 (Hightow-Weidman) 09/30/21 - 9/29/26         
CDC: Promoting PrEP Adherence for Men Who Have Sex with Men of Color: More Options, Less Barriers  
Role: Principal Investigator 

1R01MD016834-01 (Hightow-Weidman/Budhwani) 04/20/21-01/31/25                              
NIH: A multidimensional digital approach to address vaccine hesitancy and increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among African American young adults in the South 
Role: m-Principal Investigator 

1R34MH128072-01 (Elopre/Hussen) 07/01/21-06/30/24
NIH/University of Alabama (UAB): PrEP US NoW: PrEP Utilization through increasing Social Capital among YBMSM Networks with Women 
Role: Co-Investigator 
 
7200AA20CA00030 (Muessig) 01/24/21-01/23/24       
USAID: EVMS thru CONRAD: Project Engage: Expanding HIV Prevention Options for Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW)  
Role: Co-Investigator 

1R34DA050531-01A1 (Hightow-Weidman/Kipke) 09/01/20-03/31/23                                        
NIH/Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles: PrEP2Prevent: An Online PrEP Navigation and Activation Intervention for YMSM 
Role: m-Principal Investigator 

R01MD013623-01 (Bauermeister/Muessig) 04/01/18-03/31/23                                                          
NIH pass thru University of Pennsylvania: Increasing engagement and improving HIV care outcomes via stigma reduction in an online social networking intervention among racially diverse young men who have sex with men and transgender women 
Role: Co-Investigator 

PUBLICATIONS

Publications: View more on PubMed

Hightow-Weidman LB, Muessig K, Soberano Z, Rosso MT, Currie A, Adams Larsen M, Knudtson K, Vecchio A. Tough Talks Virtual Simulation HIV Disclosure Intervention for Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: Development and Usability Testing. JMIR Form Res 2022;6(9):e38354. doi: 10.2196/38354; PMID: 36074551; PMCID: 9501675 

Budhwani H, Yiğit İ, Maragh-Bass AC, Rainer CB, Claude K, Muessig KE, Hightow-Weidman LB. Development and Validation of the Youth Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Stigma Scale. AIDS Behav. 2022 Aug 27. doi: 10.1007/s10461-022-03829-9. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36029425. 

Hightow-Weidman LB, Horvath KJ, Scott H, Hill-Rorie J, Bauermeister JA. Engaging youth in mHealth: what works and how can we be sure? Mhealth. 2021 Apr 20;7:23. doi: 10.21037/mhealth-20-48. PMID: 33898592; PMCID: PMC8063019. 

Hightow-Weidman LB, LeGrand S, Muessig KE, Simmons RA, Soni K, Choi SK, Kirschke-Schwartz H, Egger JR. A Randomized Trial of an Online Risk Reduction Intervention for Young Black MSM. AIDS Behav. 2019 May;23(5):1166-1177. doi: 10.1007/s10461-018-2289-9. PMID: 30269231; PMCID: PMC6440873.

Hightow-Weidman, L., Muessig, K., Claude, K. et al. Maximizing Digital Interventions for Youth in the Midst of Covid-19: Lessons from the Adolescent Trials Network for HIV Interventions. AIDS Behav 24, 2239–2243 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02870-w