About Us

Our engaging research mission is to promote health justice among underserved youth populations such as ethnic minority and sexual gender minority youth.

Scale It Up (SIU) Florida aims to build a youth-focused, community-based learning health community focused on promoting health justice and wellness among young people in Florida through community-driven research, discovery, and innovation.

• Conduct innovative and useful research and scientific methods to end the youth HIV epidemic in Florida
• Promote community engagement and partnerships with health organizations to address HIV and other sexual health issues in young people (ages 13-29) living in Florida
• Provide research, service, outreach, and education
• Establish partnerships and connections across the state!

We have a plan that involves not just you, but everyone! Using research, our community, and professionals with lots of knowledge on health subjects, we feel we can help make a difference!

• Share a statewide, community-driven research agenda with important organizations throughout Florida to target HIV and other sexual health issues in young people
• Develop professional-led steering communities to bridge voices from the community to providers and organizations
• Conduct needs assessments in many different areas relevant to health among young people
• Use the information we gather to target regions and identify young people who may have difficulties staying in care
• Learn and support new opportunities for youth engagement, knowledge, sharing of knowledge, and enacting these things for better and healthier communities

We have done so many things with the goals of working with more professionals and reaching more young people across the state. Working with the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) and FDOH County Health Departments (CHDs), we are going to conduct more research, make more important connections, and work hard to help end the youth HIV epidemic in Florida. We will not stop until we hit every corner of Florida, because we know there are people everywhere who need representation and health justice!