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WVCTSI highlighting HIV in Rural America with virtual event

Nationwide panel of experts to discuss HIV research and policy

The West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI) will host a special virtual event titled “HIV in Rural America” on March 18. During this event, researchers, state, and national health experts will discuss research presented in The Lancet’s recent issue: HIV in the United States.

The event will kick off at 11:30 a.m. with brief research presentations from authors published in The Lancet issue with Sally Hodder, MD, WVCTSI director and associate vice president for clinical and translational research at WVU moderating. Presenters and topics include:

  • Patrick Sullivan, DVM, PhD (Emory University). Epidemiology of HIV in the USA: Epidemic Burden, Inequities, Context, and Responses
  • Tonia Poteat, PhD, PA-C, MPH (University of North Carolina). HIV and Women in the USA: What we Know and Where to go from Here
  • Kenneth H Mayer, MD (Harvard University). The Persistent and Evolving HIV Epidemic in American Men who have Sex with Men
  • Judith Feinberg, MD (West Virginia University). The Opioid Crisis and HIV in the USA: Deadly Synergies
  • Jennifer Kates, PhD, MPA (Kaiser Family Foundation). Insurance Coverage and Financing Landscape for HIV Treatment and Prevention in the USA
  • Chris Beyrer, MD (Johns Hopkins). Call to Action: How Can the US Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative Succeed?

In follow up, Leandro Mena, MD, from the University of Mississippi, Gary Stein, MD from the University of Vermont, and Louis Ortenzio, MD, director of the Clarksburg Mission, will provide responses to the presentations.

For additional context, state and national health experts will provide commentary on what is needed from the state government and the NIH. This discussion will include William Crouch, West Virginia Division of Health & Human Resources secretary; Maureen Goodenow PhD, director of the NIH Office of AIDS Research; Michele McGuirl, PhD, branch chief with the NIH NIGMS Research Advancement Programs; and Clay Marsh, MD, vice president and executive dean for health sciences at WVU.

The event will close out with a moderated question and answers session.

Those wishing to attend the March 18 event must RSVP at the event webpage. A Zoom link will be provided upon registration.