Meeting Summary
The October 2024 NIDA HIV Research Program virtual Seminar, “Let’s Talk PrEP” was a big success. Watch the webinar
Additional Information
Join us for this special virtual seminar that includes three of NIDA’s top experts in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and HIV prevention, who will be joined by a woman currently being treated with PrEP and opioid use disorder medication. Presenters are:
Rupa R. Patel, M.D., M.P.H. from the Whitman-Walker Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . An infectious disease clinician and a PrEP Clinic medical adviser, Dr. Patel has many HIV-related roles in her professional life, including that of the Clinical Biomedical Prevention Activity Lead in the Division of HIV Prevention at the CDC. Her research interests include developing health care access for marginalized populations (including those with HIV, LGBTQ+ individuals, people in underserved racial and ethnic groups, users of intravenous drugs, and sex workers) domestically and internationally.
Jaimie Meyer, M.D., M.S., FACP is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Yale University. Her lab research lab focuses on HIV prevention and treatment for women, addressing social and structural determinants of health. She is a physician-scientist with board certification in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and addiction medicine. Her clinical work and research are motivated by her experience working as an HIV care provider at the only women’s prison and jail in Connecticut.
Hansel Tookes, M.D., M.P.H., a tenured Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. His research focuses on innovative interventions to improve health outcomes in people who inject drugs, as well as structural interventions and innovative approaches to HIV prevention and treatment. He is the founder of the IDEA Lab, which houses a syringe services program, the first of its kind in Florida. In 2021, Dr. Tookes received a NIDA Avenir award, which is supporting his innovative research project, “Tele-Harm Reduction for Rapid Initiation of Antiretrovirals in People Who Inject Drugs: A Randomized Controlled Trial.”
They will be joined by Sherri, a 38-year-old mother of four from Broward County, Florida, who has been struggling with addiction for 15 years. Sheri has been an IV opioid user for the last six years, and has been registered with a needle exchange program for the last five. She is currently in the Institute of Success and Personal Achievement Treatment Program and has been on PrEP for the last three years and is now also on Suboxone. Although she acknowledges difficulty in recovery, she says she is fighting and wants to stay at Camillus House and get better. Sherri told HRP that she is just taking it “one day at a time and reminding myself that it's okay to sometimes not be OK."