Prema Filippone

Prema Filippone is an Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow at NYU Silver School of Social Work. She earned a PhD and MS in Social Work from Columbia University, and a BA in Sociology and Psychology from Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Before joining NYU, Prema was a recipient of the Provost’s Diversity Fellowship at Columbia University.

Prema is interested in understanding how systematic exclusion, stigmatization and discrimination serve as drivers for HIV-related health disparities in local and global communities. Her research examines the effects of intersectional stigma and discrimination on health decisions, the ways in which vulnerable communities engage in the HIV Care Continuum, and HIV-related health outcomes affected by persistent barriers to HIV/STI prevention and treatment. Her dissertation work utilized mixed methods to evaluate the effects of intersectional stigma on the health decisions among vulnerable women living with HIV in Masaka region, Uganda. Prema’s future research aims to better understand intersectional stigma as one of the fundamental causes of HIV health disparities and to establish culturally adaptive and cost-effective innovative interventions to improve HIV-related health outcomes among poorly engaged persons living with HIV and vulnerable local communities affected by poverty, gender-based violence, and syndemic conditions—HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and mental illness. At NYU Silver School of Social Work, Prema will implement the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) framework to develop and evaluate culturally salient intervention components that address the effects of intersecting stigmas on effective HIV prevention and treatment engagement among populations living in high-risk local contexts. Prema has co-authored publications appearing in the Journal for Interpersonal Violence, Advances in Social Work, BMC Women’s Health, eClincial Medicine: The Lancet Discovery Science, Methodological Innovations, AIDS Education and Prevention, and Health Education & Behavior.

Filippone, P. L., Hernandez Trejo, Y., & Witte, S. S. (2023). Demonstrating the Feasibility of an Economic Empowerment and Health Promotion Intervention among Low-Income Women Affected by HIV in New York City. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(8), 5511.

Filippone, P., Serrano, S., Gwadz, M., Cleland, C. M., Freeman, R., Linnemayr, S., ... & Israel, K. (2023). A virtual pilot optimization trial for African American/Black and Latino persons with non-suppressed HIV viral load grounded in motivational interviewing and behavioral economics. Frontiers in Public Health, 11.

Jennings Mayo-Wilson, L., Yen, B.J., Nabunya, P., Bahar, O.S., Wright, B.N., Kiyingi, J., Filippone, P.L., Mwebembezi, A., Kagaayi, J., Tozan, Y. and Nabayinda, J., (2023). Economic abuse and care-seeking practices for HIV and financial support services in women employed by sex work: a cross-sectional baseline assessment of a clinical trial cohort in Uganda. Journal of interpersonal violence, 38(1-2), NP1920-NP1949.

Witte, S. S., Filippone, P., Ssewamala, F. M., Nabunya, P., Bahar, O. S., Mayo-Wilson, L. J., ... & McKay, M. (2022). PrEP acceptability and initiation among women engaged in sex work in Uganda: Implications for HIV prevention. EClinicalMedicine, 44, 101278.

Sensoy Bahar, O., Nabunya, P., Nabayinda, J., Witte, S.S., Kiyingi, J., Mayo-Wilson, L.J., Filippone, P., Yang, L.S., Nakigudde, J., Tozan, Y. and Ssewamala, F.M. (2022). " I expected little, although I learned a lot": perceived benefits of participating in HIV risk reduction sessions among women engaged in sex work in Uganda. BMC Women's Health, 22(1), 1-15.

Cogburn, C. D., Allen, C. A., Frey, W. R., Filippone, P., Brown, B. R., & Witte, S. (2022). The Racial Projects of White Social Work Students. Advances in Social Work, 22(2), 574-604.

Witte, S., Pinto, R. M., Filippone, P., Choi, C. J., & Wall, M. (2022). Engaging patients in the HIV care continuum through referral-making behaviours and patterns: A descriptive cross-sectional study. International Health Trends and Perspectives, 2(1), 1-14.