Toan Ha

Contributions to Public Health

• Advancing HIV Stigma-Reduction Intervention Science: I lead an NIH/FIC R01 developing and testing a stigma-reduction intervention for men who have sex with men and healthcare providers in Vietnam. Building on two decades of HIV prevention and treatment research, my work aims to advance scalable strategies to reduce HIV-related stigma and health disparities among underserved populations in the U.S. and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
  • Ha T, Shi H, Singh RJ, Gaikwad SS, Joshi K, Padiyar R, Schensul JJ, Schensul SL. Alcohol Use, HIV Stigma and Quality of Life Among Alcohol Consuming Men Living with HIV in India: A Mediation Analysis. AIDS Behav 2023;27(10):3272-3284
  • Ha T, Givens D, Nguyen T, Nguyen N. Stigmatizing Attitudes toward People Living with HIV among Young Women Migrant Workers in Vietnam. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(11):6366.
• Alcohol Use and ART Adherence Among Men with HIV: I contributed to the development and evaluation of multilevel interventions to reduce alcohol use and improve antiretroviral therapy adherence among men with HIV in India. My research demonstrated the effectiveness of group-based intervention sequences and identified depression as a key pathway linking quality of life with hazardous alcohol use. This work contributed to the evidence base for multilevel HIV interventions and informed policy and programmatic discussions on alcohol use, mental health, and HIV treatment adherence.
  • Pham TQ, Wu Q, Pan C, Ha L, Bui TC, Sujan MSH, Schensul SL, Shrestha R, Le NT, Ha T*. Enhancing quality of life through tailored interventions for men living with HIV. Qual Life Res 2026;35(2):27. 
  • Ha T, Pham TQ, Misra S, Su TW, Ha L, Cunningham SD, Carandang RR, Schensul SL. Impact of multilevel interventions on reducing reasons for drinking among men living with HIV. AIDS Care 2025 ;37(10):1696-1705.
• HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health Among Migrant Workers: As PI of an NIH R21, I led the first comprehensive study of HIV risk among young female migrant workers in Vietnam’s industrial zones, identifying gaps in reproductive health access, HIV and sexual risk behaviors, and mental health. Subsequent research documented barriers to care and HIV-related stigma, generating evidence to inform national sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV policies and structural approaches to improve access to HIV prevention, treatment, and SRH services.
  • Ha T, Shi H, Givens D, Nguyen T, Nguyen N. Factors impacting HIV testing among young sexually active women migrant workers in Vietnamese industrial zones. BMC Public Health 2023;23(1):1938.
  • Ha T, Schensul LS, Schensul JJ, Nguyen N, Nguyen T. Sexual risk behaviors, HIV prevalence and access to sexual and reproductive health services among young women migrant workers in the industrial zone in Vietnam. Frontiers in Reproductive Health 2021. PMID: 36303970
• Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing in Underserved Populations: I study mental health and psychosocial wellbeing among people with HIV and migrant workers, including depressive symptom trajectories among men with HIV and the role of sexual self-efficacy in the relationship between psychosocial wellbeing and depression among female migrant workers. This work supports the development of scalable, integrated mental health interventions and informs my future research agenda.
  • Ha, T., Shi, H., Pham, B.N. et al. Assessing the Effectiveness of Multilevel Intervention Sequences on “Tension” Among Men Living with HIV: A Randomized-Control Trial. Int.J. Behav. Med 2025; 32, 647–657
    Ha, T.; Shi, H.; Wen-Han Su, T.; Roman Shrestha, R.; Baumann, S.; Nguyen, S.; Nguyen, T.; Le Minh Giang, N.; Schensul, L.
  • S. The mediation effects of sexual self-efficacy in the relationship between psychosocial wellbeing and depressive symptoms among female migrant workers in Vietnam. International Journal of Social 
    Psychology 2023;69(8):2068-2078.
• mHealth Interventions for Underserved Populations: I have contributed to the development and evaluation of mHealth tools to support disease prevention and service utilization among underserved communities. Through my current NIH R01, I am developing digital platforms for HIV stigma reduction, advancing my research at the intersection of implementation science and digital health.
  • Ngo A,  Ha T*, et al. Effectiveness of mHealth intervention on safe abortion knowledge and perceived barriers to safe abortion services among female sex workers in Vietnam. Mhealth 2023;9:3. doi: 10.21037/mhealth-22-41.
  • Gautam K, Paudel K, Wickersham JA, Khati A, Thapa A, Bhusal S, Sujan MSH, Pagoto S, Ha T, Shrestha R. Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment to Monitor Opioid Use and Overdose Among People Who Use Opioids: Prospective Observational Feasibility Study. JMIR Hum Factors 2026;13:e95655.