Dr. Beckwith is an Associate Professor of Medicine with a research and mentoring portfolio focused on improving the diagnosis, treatment and longitudinal care of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among substance users and persons involved with the criminal justice system. His work has investigated the use of Seek, Test, Treat and Retain strategies for HIV and HCV, and he has conducted research to develop and implement mobile health (mHealth) technology tools to facilitate and support linkage to care. Previous grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse include a K23 Career Development Award (Comprehensive HIV Testing Strategies for Jails) and a multi-site R01 (CARE Corrections: Technology for Jail HIV/HCV Testing, Linkage, and Care). Dr. Beckwith has a successful track record of disseminating the results of his research at national meetings and within the peer-reviewed literature, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and extensive experience in mentoring junior scientists at the pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, and junior faculty levels.
Dr. Beckwith’s current research leadership roles include: 1) PI of the Lifespan/Brown Criminal Justice Research Program on Substance Use and HIV (R25DA037190) that provides training for early career scientists on conducting clinical research among criminal justice involved, substance using populations (www.LifespanBrownCJRT.org); 2) Director of the Special Populations Core for the COBRE Center on Opioids and Overdose (P20GM125507); 3) Co-Director of the BioBehavioral Sciences Core of the Providence/Brown Center for AIDS Research (P30AI042853); 4) PI on a Gilead Sciences, Inc. award (IN-US-342-4455) to develop and evaluate a sustainable and scalable HCV testing and linkage program for community supervision offices; and 5) he serves as Co-Investigator on two R01s investigating adherence to antiretroviral therapy among adolescents and young adults (R01NR017098, PI: Mimiaga; R01MH117960, PI: Whiteley). In addition, Dr. Beckwith serves on the Executive Committees for a T32 clinical research fellowship at the Miriam Hospital/Brown University focused on HIV and the other infectious consequences of substance use (T32DA13911, PI: Flanigan) and for an R25 educational program based at Brown (R25MH083620, PI: Nunn) which provides training for minority investigators on community-based HIV clinical research.
Keywords: HIV; hepatitis C and HCV; substance use; criminal justice; mHealth; Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain; mentoring
Key Publications:
Kuo I, Liu T, Patrick R, Trezza C, Bazerman L, Uhrig Castonguay BJ, Peterson J, Kurth A, Beckwith CG. Use of an mHealth Intervention to Improve Engagement in HIV Community-Based Care Among Persons Recently Released from a Correctional Facility in Washington, DC: A Pilot Study. AIDS Behav. 2019 Jan 9. doi: 10.1007/s10461-018-02389-1. [Epub ahead of print]
Beckwith CG, Kuo I, Fredericksen RJ, Brinkley-Rubinstein L, Cunningham WE, Springer SA, Loeliger KB, Franks J, Christopoulos K, Lorvick J, Kahana SY, Young R, Seal DW, Zawitz C, Delaney JA, Crane HM, Biggs ML. Risk behaviors and HIV care continuum outcomes among criminal justice-involved HIV-infected transgender women and cisgender men: Data from the Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain Harmonization Initiative. PLoS One. 2018 May 22;13(5):e0197730.
Christopoulos KA, Cunningham WE, Beckwith CG, Kuo I, Golin CE, Knight K, Flynn PM, Spaulding AC, Coffin LS, Kruszka B, Kurth A, Young JD, Mannheimer S, Crane HM, Kahana SY.Lessons Learned From the Implementation of Seek, Test, Treat, Retain Interventions Using Mobile Phones and Text Messaging to Improve Engagement in HIV Care for Vulnerable Populations in the United States. AIDS Behav. 2017 Nov;21(11):3182-3193.
Beckwith CG, Kurth AE, Bazerman LB, Patry EJ, Cates A, Tran L, Noska A, Kuo I.A pilot study of rapid hepatitis C virus testing in the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. J Public Health (Oxf). 2016 Mar;38(1):130-7.
Rana A, van den Berg J, Lamy E, Beckwith C. Using a Mobile Health Intervention to Support HIV Treatment Adherence and Retention among Patients at Risk for Disengaging with Care. AIDS Patient Care and STDs 2016; Apr 30(4): 178-84.
Beckwith CG, Kurth AE, Bazerman L, Solomon L, Patry E, Rich JD, Kuo I.Survey of US Correctional Institutions for Routine HCV Testing. Am J Public Health. 2015 Jan;105(1):68-71.
Beckwith CG, Bazerman L, Gillani F, Tran L, Larson B, Rivard S, Flanigan TP, Rich JD. The Feasibility of Implementing the HIV Seek, Test, and Treat Strategy in Jails. AIDS Patient Care and STDs 2014: 28: 183-187.
Kirk GD, Himelhoch SS, Westergaard RP, Beckwith CG. Using Mobile Health Technology to Improve HIV Care for Persons Living with HIV and Substance Abuse. AIDS Res Treat. 2013;2013:194613. doi: 10.1155/2013/194613.
Kurth A, Kuo I, Peterson J, Azikiwe N, Bazerman L, Cates A, Beckwith CG. Information and Communication Technology to Link Criminal Justice Reentrants to HIV Care in the Community. AIDS Res Treat. 2013;2013:547381. doi: 10.1155/2013/547381.
Beckwith CG, Nunn A, Baucom S, Getachew A, Akinwumi A, Herdman B, DiBartolo P, Spencer S, Brown D, Lesansky H, Kuo I. Rapid HIV testing in large urban jails. Am J Public Health. 2012 May;102 Suppl 2:S184-6.
Contact Information:
Curt G. Beckwith, MD
Associate Professor
Alpert Medical School of Brown University
The Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals
164 Summit Avenue
Center for AIDS Research Building
Providence, Rhode Island 02906
Phone: 401-793-4765
Email: CBeckwith@Lifespan.org
Additional links of interest:
Seek, Test, Treat and Retain: Addressing HIV in the Criminal Justice System