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NCT06845774Enrolling by invitation

The PROTECT (PrEP Optimization Through Telehealth Care and Treatment) Trial

Optimizing Low Threshold TelePrEP Care for People Who Inject Drugs in Appalachia

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 15 May 2026

Brief summary (registry, in English)

The expansion of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) care has been endorsed as a key strategy for reducing new HIV infections, however, PrEP trials among people who inject drugs (PWID) are rare and uptake of PrEP has been minimal, most notably in rural areas. Structural barriers to healthcare access, lack of providers, and inadequate infrastructure to deliver PrEP are challenges in many rural areas. This study will integrate telehealth PrEP care within local health departments to reduce structural barriers to evidence-based HIV prevention through co-located comprehensive PrEP services, and test this against a standard of care approach in a pilot randomized clinical trial. The primary objective is to examine preliminary efficacy and effect sizes of novel integrated telehealth care versus standard education and active referral on the primary outcome of PrEP initiation in HIV-negative participants who inject drugs.

Status (registry)
Enrolling by invitation
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
80 (estimated)
First submitted
19 Feb 2025
Start date
25 Sept 2025
Primary completion date
13 Jan 2027
Lead sponsor
Hilary L Surratt, PhD
Diseases
HIV
NCT number
NCT06845774

What you commit to

  • Study type: Interventional
  • Planned participants: 80
  • From 25 Sept 2025 to the primary completion date, 13 Jan 2027
  • 1 site in 1 country
  • Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Other illness

  • HIV-positive status

Other

  • current PrEP care.

Who the study is looking for

  • be at least 18 years of age
  • report at least one occasion of injection drug use in the past month
  • report an indication for PrEP in the past six months consistent with CDC guidelines for PrEP care
  • be a documented client of the county health department-based SSP at the time of study entry
  • express willingness to participate in a multi-session intervention and follow-up

Age in the registry: 18 years to 99 years · Sex: All · Accepts healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (1)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.

SiteCityCountrySite status
University of Kentucky
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
LexingtonUnited StatesUnknown status

This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.