Claude Ann Mellins is currently a Professor of Medical Psychology in Psychiatry and Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), the Associate Director of the Gender, Sexuality and Health Area of Psychiatry, the co-director of the NIMH-funded HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and CUIMC, and d) the current PI of the NIMH-funded T32 Postdoctoral training program in Behavioral Sciences Research in HIV Infection at CUIMC.
Dr. Mellins is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience conducting research and developing programs focused on the psychosocial aspects of HIV disease, substance use, and stress in children, adolescents, young adults and families in the US and globally. Her research focuses on the intersection of HIV prevention and care, targeting the critical psychosocial and contextual determinants of behavioral health outcomes (mental health, sexual and drug use behavior, and treatment adherence) and informing evidence-based interventions for youth and families living with or affected by HIV in the US and globally, particularly in South Africa, Uganda, and Thailand. She has been the PI or Co-Investigator of a large number of foundation and federally-funded research projects, including multiple cohort studies of perinatally HIV-infected and perinatally HIV-exposed youth. Her research has involved longitudinal cohort studies, intervention trials and collaborations with interdisciplinary academic teams, medical and community providers, and governmental health officials.