SUMMARY HIV viral load monitoring has been a key component of medical care and public health for individuals living with HIV; however, we need better technologies for home-based or point-of-care diagnostics. The overall objective of this supplemental funding to “The Center for Innovation in Point-of-Care Technologies for HIV/AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases at Northwestern (C-THAN)” is to conduct market research and a quantitative conjoint analysis for HIV viral load diagnostics in the United States. Our team will also perform project reviews, participate as viability/steering panel members, and provide expertise to teams developing novel point-of-care diagnostic technologies for HIV viral load. For the HIV viral load conjoint analysis, we will create and distribute an internet-based survey whereby we present patients and healthcare providers with hypothetical test concepts that vary by different test attributes. Hypothetical tests will vary based on specific attributes such as limit of detection (e.g., 40, 200, 1000 copies per mL), sample collection method (e.g. venipuncture, fingerstick, microneedle patch), and other attributes. Survey participants will rate each option based on the likelihood of purchasing and using the test, on a scale from 0 to 100. Then, the relative preference for each level of a particular attribute is deduced and assigned a utility value. The higher the utility value, the more preferable the attribute level. From these utilities, the relative importance of each attribute can be calculated: the bigger the gap between the utility assigned to the least preferred level and the most preferred level, the more important the attribute. We propose to distribute the survey among 300 patients and 150 healthcare providers in the United States. These research findings will be analyzed, presented to stakeholders, presented at domestic or international conferences, and eventually published in a peer-reviewed publication. This research and supplemental support will advance efforts to create innovative diagnostics for home-based or point-of-care HIV viral load testing.

NARRATIVE HIV viral load monitoring has been a key component of medical care and public health for individuals living with HIV; however, we need better technologies for home-based or point-of-care diagnostics. The overall objective of this supplemental funding to C-THAN is to conduct market research and a quantitative conjoint analysis for HIV viral load diagnostics in the United States. Our team will also perform project reviews, participate as viability/steering panel members, and provide expertise to teams developing novel point-of-care diagnostic technologies for HIV viral load.