We know that health disparities are not caused by individual behavior alone. Rather, the social environments we experience (e.g., the connections we have to other people, the places we go, and providers we access for care) play important, yet often invisible, roles in determining our health. 

At the SILOS project, we want to improve understanding of how structural inequities (i.e., racism, homophobia) drive disparities in HIV and substance use. By measuring the specific ways these complex forces shape our lives, we hope to expand knowledge on health disparities and ultimately improve public health targets for intervention.