Life-steps for PrEP nurse-delivered adherence intervention: Protocol for a multisite randomized clinical trial.

Poor social functioning is associated with increased mortality, accelerated aging, and overall reduced mental and physical well-being [,]. Social behavior is impaired in a range of neuropsychiatric and mental health disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), social anxiety, and conduct disorder. These impairments include deficits in motivation to engage in social interactions and recognizing and responding to social cues []. Disorders marked by social dysfunction are gender biased, implying a role for sex chromosomes, sex steroid hormones, gender, and culture. Indeed, boys are ~3-4 times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ASD []. Modeling social dysfunction in organisms with steroid-modulated, dynamic social behavior is essential to disentangle biological and social influences. The utility of models of social dysfunction is determined by the traits they express in laboratory settings []. Here, we will discuss current animal models of social dysfunction and their limitations, and highlight the potential of using highly social African cichlid fish to fill these gaps. We will focus our discussion on the qualities of the African cichlid as an emerging model of social dysfunction (). While others have written excellent reviews on the utility of cichlid fish in revealing fundamental insights into the molecular and cellular mechanisms of social behavior -, this review centers on cichlid fish as a genetically tractable model with translational potential for understanding social dysfunction in humans. In an era of advancing genomic technologies, new model organisms of social dysfunction could yield unexpected and vital insights into human health. Non-human primates, rodents, and other established models have been essential for uncovering mechanisms underlying ASD and related social dysfunctions [-]. NHPs provide the closest approximation to human social behavior and neural circuitry, making them uniquely powerful for studying complex social cognition and communication []. However, their use is constrained by cost, ethical considerations, limited sample sizes, and restricted experimental throughput, collectively limiting mechanistic and longitudinal studies at scale.