Meher Kalkat – UF CUR

Student NameMeher Kalkat

Faculty Mentor NameRobert Leeman

CollegeCollege of Health and Human Performance

MajorPsychology

MinorHealth Disparities, Family, Youth, and Community Sciences

Research InterestsHIV Interventions, Addiction Behaviors, PrEP Uptake

Academic AwardsIBM Watson Scholarship (2017); Benacquisto Scholarship (2017); Emerging Scholars Program (2019); University Scholars Program (2020)

OrganizationsAWARE Ambassador; Gator Advance

Hobbies and InterestsSpoken Word Poetry, Piano, Baking

Research Project

Advancing New Computer-Based Help on Risky Behaviors (ANCHORS)?

The purpose of this study is to create and test a mobile health intervention that will combat substance use and risky sexual behaviors in order to reduce HIV infection rates for the most vulnerable individuals. This intervention will synthesize motivational intervention, a daily interactive voice response (IVR) system that provides participants with personalized feedback, and usage of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication for men who have sex with men (MSM).