Wendee M. Wechsberg (born in Miami, Florida) is an American social science researcher. Wechsberg’s research focuses on developing and testing the efficacy of HIV prevention interventions among key populations of substance abusers globally. She is a recognized expert in the fields of substance abuse, gender inequality, and HIV. She developed the Women’s CoOp intervention, a woman-focused behavioral HIV intervention that incorporates gender- and culture-specific skills training. Wechsberg is a Principal Researcher and Director of the Substance Use, Gender, and Applied Research (SUGAR) Program at RTI International and Director of the RTI Global Gender Center. She is also Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health, Adjunct Professor of Psychology at North Carolina State University (NCSU), and Adjunct Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine.
Wechsberg received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida in 1975. She received her Master of Science degree in Human Developmental Counseling from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University in 1979, and her doctorate in Community Psychology from North Carolina State University in 1993.
Since 1994, Wechsberg has applied mixed methods research to develop and test the efficacy of HIV prevention interventions among diverse populations of substance abusers, particularly at-risk women, adolescent girls, and couples. Wechsberg began working full-time at RTI International as a Research Psychologist in 1996 and became Director of the Substance Use, Gender, and Applied Research (SUGAR)Program, formerly known as the Substance Abuse Treatment, Evaluations, and Interventions program, in 1999. In 2013, she also became Director of the RTI Global Gender Center, an initiative that includes over 220 affiliates and experts worldwide who work collaboratively to identify and address gender inequalities and disparities through innovative research and science.
Additionally, Wechsberg started the International Women’s and Children’s Health and Gender (InWomen’s) Group in 2007 with support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She serves as Chair of the InWomen’s Group, a multidisciplinary forum addressing all aspects of substance use among women, children, and youth. The group comprises more than 200 members from 40 countries. InWomen’s hosts its own satellite meeting annually before the College on Problems of Drug Dependence Conference.
Research and Impact
Wechsberg has served as principal investigator and project director on studies with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She has been conducting international research in South Africa with at-risk substance-using women and adolescent girls since 2001, and more recently with couples. In 2008, Wechsberg was ranked third among all researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health who received HIV/AIDS investigator-initiated grants with research in the United States and internationally.
Wechsberg is the creator of the woman-focused HIV prevention program, the Women’s CoOp, which was developed in 1998. The original Women’s CoOp study was funded by NIDA for more than 10 years, and is a CDC best-evidence HIV behavioral prevention intervention. It has been adapted specifically for underserved and vulnerable adult and adolescent women in the United States, as well as in multiple regions in South Africa, the Republic of Georgia, and Russia.
The RTI Global Gender Center hosted a conference on "Ending Gender Inequalities: Addressing the Nexus of HIV, Drug Use, and Violence with Evidence-based Action". Wechsberg served as the conference Chair. The conference spotlighted successful evidence-informed gender research and practice, and strategized solutions to broaden intervention implementation in usual care settings through engaging plenaries, panels, and multilevel collaborative sessions. Conference attendees included international participants, such as gender experts, civil society, leading researchers, policymakers, survivors, implementing partners, and students
The impact of Wechsberg's gender-focused work has been recognized both nationally and internationally. Notably her work with high-risk women, adolescents, and couples in South Africa has produced the Women's Health CoOp, the Young Woman's CoOp, and the Couples' CoOp, which are adaptations of the original intervention and effective tools to reduce not only HIV, but violence and drug use - all of which are highly prevalent in the country. Recently, Wechsberg began developing a mobile app that would make the Young Women's CoOp more accessible to adolescent and young adult women at-risk for HIV. If the mobile app version of the Young Women's CoOp is found to be as effective as the face-to-face intervention it could be the first mobile app to deliver an evidenced-based, women-focused HIV intervention for young women.
Young Women-Focused HIV Prevention: Seek & Test in NC Clinics (2015 to 2020)
Expanding HIV Testing and Prevention to Reach Vulnerable Young Women (2015 to 2020)
Linking High-Risk Young Women to HIV Prevention and Care for Comorbid Conditions (2015 to 2017)
Implementation Research of the Women’s Health CoOp in South Africa (2014 to 2019)
Combination Prevention for Vulnerable Women in South Africa (2011 to 2016)
Developing Empowering Strategies for Drug-Using Female School Dropouts in Cape Town (2014 to 2016)
North Carolina Community AIDS Fund, Board Member, 2011−2014
Comprehensive International Programme for Research on AIDS in South Africa (CIPRA–SA), Scientific Advisory Board, Cape Town, South Africa, 2002−2008
Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), Internal Advisory Board, University of North Carolina, 1999 to date
NAADAC, Association for Addiction Professionals
Addiction Professionals of North Carolina
American Association of Community Psychology
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
College on Problems of Drug Dependence
International AIDS Society
Selected awards and recognition
Pioneer Certificate, Two Decades of International Collaborations, NIDA, 2015
Women in Business, Mentoring, Triangle Business Journal, 2014
NIDA International Mentoring Award, 2013
10 Area People Working To Change the World, Triangle Business Journal, 2007
RTI President’s Award—recognized for innovative adaptation of a U.S.-developed research and intervention protocol for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in South Africa, 2002
Myers, B., Carney, T., & Wechsberg, W. M. (2016). Not on the agenda: A qualitative study of influences on health services use among poor young women who use drugs in Cape Town, South Africa. International Journal of Drug Policy. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.12.019
Wechsberg, W. M., Zule, W. A., El-Bassel, N., Doherty, I. A., Minnis, A. M., Novak, S., et al. (2016). The male factor: Outcomes from a cluster randomized field experiment with a couples-based HIV prevention intervention in a South African township. Drug Alcohol Dependence, 161, 307–315. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.02.017
Jones, E. H., Kirtadze, I., Otiashvili, D., O’Grady, K., Murphy, K., Zule, W., Krupitsky, E., & Wechsberg, W. M. (2015). Feasibility and initial efficacy of a culturally sensitive women-centered substance use intervention in Georgia: Sex risk outcomes. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. doi:10.1186/s13011-015-0043-0
Wechsberg, W. M., Doherty, I. A., Browne, F. A., Kline, T. L., Carry, M. G., Raiford, J. L., & Herbst, J. H. (2015). Gang membership and marijuana use among African American female adolescents in North Carolina. Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, 6, 141–150. doi:10.2147/SAR.S93304
Wechsberg, W. M., Deren, S., Myers, B., Kirtadze, I., Zule, W., Howard, B., & El-Bassel, N. (2015). Gender-specific HIV prevention interventions for women who use alcohol and other drugs: The evolution of the science and future directions. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 69(Suppl 2), S128−S139. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000000627.v
Minnis, A. M., Doherty, I., Kline, T., Zule, W. A., Myers, B., Carney, T., & Wechsberg, W. M. (2015). Relationship power, communication, and violence among couples: Results of a cluster-randomized HIV prevention study in a South African township. International Journal of Women's Health, 7, 517−525. doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S77398
Wechsberg, W. M., El-Bassel, N., Carney, T., Browne, F. Myers, B., & Zule, W. (2015). Adapting an evidence-based HIV behavioral intervention for South African couples. Substance Abuse Treatment Prevention and Policy, 10(1), 6. doi: 10.1186/s13011-015-0005-6
Wechsberg, W. M., Zule, W. A., Ndirangu, J., Kline, T. K., Rodman, N. F., Doherty, I. A., Novak, S. P., & van der Horst, C. M. (2014). The biobehavioral Women’s Health CoOp in Pretoria, South Africa: Study protocol for a cluster-randomized design, BMC Public Health, 14(1), 1074. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1074
Johnson, J. E., Peabody, M. E., Wechsberg, W. M., Rosen, R., Fernandes, K., & Zlotnick, C. (2014). Feasibility of an HIV/STI risk reduction program for incarcerated women who have experienced interpersonal violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(18), 3244−3266. doi: 10.1177/0886260514555013
Wechsberg, W. M., Jewkes, R., Novak, S. P., Kline, T., Myers, B., Browne, F. A., ... & Parry, C. (2013). A brief intervention for drug use, sexual risk behaviours and violence prevention with vulnerable women in South Africa: a randomised trial of the Women’s Health CoOp. BMJ open, 3(5), e002622
Wechsberg, W. M., Zule, W. A., Luseno, W. K., Kline, T. L., Browne, F. A., Novak, S. P., & Ellerson, R. M. (2011). Effectiveness of an adapted evidence-based woman-focused intervention for sex workers and non-sex workers: the Women's Health CoOp in South Africa. Journal of Drug Issues, 41(2), 233-252
Wechsberg, W. M., Luseno, W. K., Kline, T. L., Browne, F. A., & Zule, W. A. (2010). Preliminary findings of an adapted evidence-based woman-focused HIV intervention on condom use and negotiation among at-risk women in Pretoria, South Africa. Journal of prevention & intervention in the community, 38(2), 132-146
Wechsberg, W. M., Browne, F. A., Ellerson, R. M., & Zule, W. A. (2010). Adapting the evidence-based Women’s CoOp intervention to prevent human immunodeficiency virus infection in North Carolina and international settings. North Carolina medical journal, 71(5), 477
Wechsberg, W. M., Lam, W. K., Zule, W. A., & Bobashev, G. (2004). Efficacy of a woman-focused intervention to reduce HIV risk and increase self-sufficiency among African-American crack abusers. American Journal of Public Health, 94(6), 1165–1173. doi:10.2105/AJPH.94.7.1165
