Stephen Bonett

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Assistant Professor at University of Pennsylvania

Internalized homophobia (IH) negatively impacts the mental health of adolescent sexual minority men (ASMM), while self-esteem is posited to bolster their mental health. In a repeated-measures study with 599 ASMM (Mean age = 16.2 [SD = 1.3]; 75.6% racial and ethnic minorities), longitudinal structural equation models investigated the relationships a...

Background Black individuals in the U.S. report experiencing the highest levels of racial discrimination in healthcare. Racial discrimination in healthcare contributes to mental health issues and has been shown to be associated with loneliness. Despite this, there is limited research on the role loneliness plays in the relationship between racial d...

Background Pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) usage has slowly increased in the United States, but significant disparities persist across race, ethnicity, sex, gender, age, and geography. Determinants of PrEP inequities include stigma and medical mistrust, lack of patient-centered services, lack of access to clinical care, and organizational resistanc...

Background Supplements were awarded under the National Institutes of Health, ending the HIV epidemic (EHE) initiative to foster implementation science through community-engaged research. The objective of this study was to synthesize lessons learned, identify areas of research sufficiently studied, and present an agenda for future research on HIV he...

Background Health care providers are critical for successful implementation of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), but barriers to PrEP provision persist. Researchers must engage with providers to understand how to optimize PrEP delivery across settings. Yet researcher–provider collaborations can be challenging. To offer guidance on engaging provid...

Background Increasing HIV testing among priority populations is a primary strategy of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative. In October 2019, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) established a program to distribute publicly-funded HIV self-testing (HIVST) kits to Philadelphia County residents aged 16 years and older. Methods Throug...

HIV testing is essential to achieving the 95-95-95 targets, yet lifetime HIV testing rates in the United States fall below established guidelines. Building on similar healthcare contexts where stigma hinders access and trust mitigates its negative effect, this exploratory study examined the relationship between HIV-related stigma (HRS) and testing...

LGBTQ+ individuals face discrimination in healthcare settings. Magnet hospitals have been associated with positive patient outcomes, yet it remains uncertain whether Magnet designation is associated with hospitals' LGBTQ+ inclusivity in policies and practices. This study examined 801 American hospitals across 47 states that participated in the Heal...

Background: Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and other sexual and gender diverse (LGBTQ+) individuals in healthcare settings remains a priority issue. Nurse leaders, who oversee the largest healthcare workforce, are critical in implementing inclusive practices to address LGBTQ+ discrimination, yet im...

Formative research is an important component of health communication campaign development. Rapid message testing approaches are useful for testing new messaging quickly and efficiently during public health emergencies, such as COVID-19, when guidance and recommendations are rapidly changing. Wiki surveys simultaneously collect quantitative message...

Background The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic precipitated an urgent need for clinical trials to discover safe and efficacious treatments. We examined how COVID-19 experiences, clinical trial awareness, and trust in the vaccine safety process were associated with willingness to participate in COVID-19 clinical trials. The objective wa...

Background Adolescents and young adults account for over 21% of new HIV infections in the U.S. with most new cases among young men. As an important information source for this group, social media can uniquely reveal the perspectives and communicative patterns of this key population. We identified 6,439 young male Twitter users (ages 13–24) in the U...

Young adults experience high coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) incidence yet have the lowest vaccination and booster rates among adults. Understanding the factors influencing their intentions regarding boosters is essential for crafting effective public health strategies. We examined the psychosocial factors (attitudes, norms, perceived behaviora...

Background Public health guidance recommended that children who are 6 months or older be vaccinated against COVID-19 in June of 2022. In the U.S., 56% of children under 17 had not received the COVID-19 vaccination in 2023. We examine parents’ willingness to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 using the theory of planned behavior in order to d...

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is pivotal in curbing HIV transmission and is integral to the national plan to end the HIV epidemic in the United States (US). Nonetheless, widespread PrEP adoption faces barriers. Telehealth delivery models for PrEP, or telePrEP, can enhance PrEP access and adherence by providing flexible care remotely. This study p...

Background Over half of the youth population in the United States, aged 6 months to 17 years, have not received the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. Given parents’ central role in vaccinating their children, we examined associations between parents’ trust of the federal oversight of COVID-19 vaccine safety and their willingness to vacci...

Background Web-based surveys increase access to study participation and improve opportunities to reach diverse populations. However, web-based surveys are vulnerable to data quality threats, including fraudulent entries from automated bots and duplicative submissions. Widely used proprietary tools to identify fraud offer little transparency about t...

Background Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective HIV prevention method and a key component of Philadelphia’s Community Plan to End the HIV Epidemic (EHE). However, significant barriers to accessing PrEP exist among people at risk for HIV. Low-threshold models for PrEP services that minimize barriers to entry and service engagement could h...

Background: Health disparities experienced by LGBTQ + individuals have been partially attributed to health professionals’ lack of cultural competence to work with them. Cultural competence, the intricate integration of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors that improve cross-cultural communication and interpersonal relationships, has been use...

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations experience discrimination and care-related barriers when seeking appropriate sexual health services. Using rapid assessment procedures we conducted site visits with 11 community-based HIV service agencies to identify priorities, assets, and needs related to serving SGM clients and assessed the alignment...

BACKGROUND Web-based surveys increase access to study participation and improve opportunities to reach diverse populations. However, web-based surveys are vulnerable to data quality threats, including fraudulent entries from automated bots and duplicative submissions. Widely used proprietary tools to identify fraud offer little transparency about t...

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common reportable sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States, with >60% of reported cases occurring in individuals aged 15-24. US practice guidelines recommend directly observed therapy (DOT) for the treatment of chlamydia in adolescents, but almost no research has been done to evaluate...

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted sexual health services for young people, with potential consequences of decreasing preventive screening and increasing undiagnosed sexually transmitted infections (STI). This study aimed to assess trends in asymptomatic screening among patients receiving STI testing and to estimate the number of STI cases t...

Purpose Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhea (CT/NG) retesting three months after diagnosis is a guideline-recommended strategy to detect re-infections. Adolescents and young adults are priority populations in the U.S. Sexually Transmitted Infections National Strategic Plan, but there is a lack of research examining CT/NG retesting among these...

Background: Strengthening HIV prevention services is a key priority of the Ending the HIV Epidemic plan. Informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, we examined HIV testers' perceived barriers and facilitators to implementing HIV prevention services, including testers' strengths and weaknesses; enabling factors within the i...

Rates of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake for HIV prevention continue to increase rapidly among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States (U.S.); however, these increases have been slower among young MSM. Emerging adulthood (ages 18-25) is a time of transitions and social development, resulting in increased vulnerability to HIV. An...

Background: Youth and young adults continue to experience high rates of HIV and are also frequent users of social media. Social media platforms such as Twitter can bolster efforts to promote HIV prevention for these individuals, and while HIV-related messages exist on Twitter, little is known about the impact or reach of these messages for this po...

Researchers are increasingly recognizing the importance of studying and addressing intersectional stigma within the field of HIV. Yet, researchers have, arguably, struggled to operationalize intersectional stigma. To ensure that future research and methodological innovation is guided by frameworks from which this area of inquiry has arisen, we prop...

In the digital neighborhood, Black and Hispanic youth communicate about issues they face, including sex and substance use. This population of young people is also disproportionately burdened by negative consequences associated with sex and substance use behaviors even when their behavior is less risky. Given the increased likelihood of negative out...

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) rollout efforts thus far have inadequately reached young people from underrepresented backgrounds. This study explores PrEP engagement among young Black and Latinx men who have sex with men, transgender women, and gender diverse individuals in three U.S. cities using an adapted PrEP continuum measure. We analyze data...

Adolescents and young adults account for over 21% of new HIV infections in the U.S. with the majority of new cases among young men. Social media plays a significant role in the lives of young men and represents an important source of HIV risk and prevention information. To illuminate the discourse around HIV among this group, our study examined the...

Behavioral HIV interventions focused on strengthening young sexual minority men's (SMM) internal (assets) and external (resources) protective factors are promising, yet their evaluation as resilience-supportive strategies to minimize or negate HIV-related risks remain understudied. The objective of this scoping review was to describe resilience-sup...

Background: Incidence of syphilis has been rising in recent years and disproportionately affects young adults, racial/ethnic minority men, and people living with HIV. This study describes patterns of syphilis infection and syphilis-related care utilization among adolescents and young adults living with HIV (AYALH) in Philadelphia. Methods: We co...

A better understanding of the social-structural factors that influence HIV vulnerability is crucial to achieve the goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030. Given the role of neighborhoods in HIV outcomes, synthesis of findings from such research is key to inform efforts toward HIV eradication. We conducted a systematic review to examine the relatio...

BACKGROUND Youth and young adults continue to experience high rates of HIV, and are also frequent users of social media. Social media platforms such as Twitter can bolster efforts to promote HIV prevention for these individuals, and while HIV-related messages exist on Twitter, little is known about the impact or reach of these messages for this pop...

Purpose of Review Linkage to and retention in HIV care, as conceptualized in the HIV care continuum, remain critical steps towards achieving and maintaining viral suppression. We evaluated recently published (Jan 2018–Nov 2020) peer-reviewed clinical trials of linkage to and retention in care outcomes in the United States. Recent Findings We ident...

Negative stereotypes about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) hinder PrEP uptake among young men who have sex with men (YMSM). Prior research suggests community homophobia may be linked to negative PrEP attitudes. Conversely, individuals with high gay community attachments (GCA) may have more access to credible PrEP information/resources. Among 285 YM...

Disruptions in STI testing infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic threaten to impact STI service delivery for adolescents. Within a large pediatric primary care network, we compared STI testing encounters between the pandemic period and an analogous pre-pandemic period. STI test counts decreased and test positivity increased during the pandemi...

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a drug regimen recommended for anyone at high risk of getting HIV to prevent them from being infected. Little research exists on how state-level policies might be related to differential PrEP uptake across the United States. To better understand the associations between state-level policies and PrEP uptake, we exa...

Network factors have been proposed as potential drivers of racial disparities in HIV among Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM). This review aimed to synthesize the extant literature on networks and racial disparities in HIV among MSM and identify potential directions for future research. We searched databases for peer-reviewed articles...

In the past 10 years, research has proliferated investigating the effects of sexual and social networks on the transmission of HIV, especially among racial/ethnic minority men who have sex with men (MSM). This research, however, has been inconsistent in its application of social network theory leading to variations in the measurement of networks an...

The HIV epidemic has disproportionately affected young people, racial/ethnic minorities, and sexual and gender minorities. These inequities have significant implications for the health and wellbeing of young queer and transgender people of color. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a safe and efficacious biomedical prevention modality that could dra...

BACKGROUND HIV disproportionately affects young men ages 13-24 in the United States. As social media platforms are extremely popular among youth and young adults, investigators have an opportunity to utilize these platforms to curb the HIV epidemic by examining discourse regarding HIV and its associations with epidemiological data for HIV preventio...

Background Adolescents and young adults in the age range of 13-24 years are at the highest risk of developing HIV infections. As social media platforms are extremely popular among youths, researchers can utilize these platforms to curb the HIV epidemic by investigating the associations between the discourses on HIV infections and the epidemiologica...

The Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) campaign was launched in 2016 to simultaneously reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) stigma and raise awareness about treatment as prevention. This research note assesses HIV-negative young men who have sex with men's U=U awareness and perceived accuracy to inform this population's combination HIV preve...

Little is known about users' intervention engagement and use patterns within eHealth interventions. We describe these patterns among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) who participated in a brief eHealth intervention designed to increase HIV testing. We merged pilot trial participants' survey data (N = 86) with their paradata (e.g., system data...

A new computational strategy produces independent samples from the joint posterior distribution for a broad class of Bayesian spatial and spatiotemporal conditional autoregressive models. The method is based on reparameterization and marginalization of the posterior distribution and massive parallelization of rejection sampling using graphical proc...

P.R.E.S.S. is an R-package developed to allow researchers to get access to and manipulate a large set of statistical data on protein residue-level structural properties such as residue-level virtual bond lengths, virtual bond angles, and virtual torsion angles. A large set of high-resolution protein structures is downloaded and surveyed. Their resi...

The atomic-level structural properties of proteins, such as bond lengths, bond angles, and torsion angles, have been well studied and understood based on either chemistry knowledge or statistical analysis. Similar properties on the residue-level, such as the distances between two residues and the angles formed by short sequences of residues, can be...

We are all familiar with the graphics cards that control the monitor displays on our desktops and laptops. Since 2006, methods have been developed to use these devices for scientific computing. Even moderately priced graphical processing units (GPUs) are capable of executing dozens or even hundreds of calculations simultaneously, thus cutting compu...