Past Team Spotlights

August’s spotlight features a conversation with member of Outreach programming, Joel Jackson, Assistant Director, Inclusion & Training. Joel’s relationship with CCHE as a contractor looks like he comes in when the Center needs support in understanding how to better take care of ourselves and our clients..

For July’s Spotlight I sat with Lindsey Wesley-Madgett, Linkage-to-Care Specialist for UC-PACT (UChicago HIV Prevention and Care Team). She helps clients navigate the healthcare system by providing health education, coordinating referrals and appointments, and supporting clients’ overall well-being.

Will Pettway had the pleasure of interviewing Rebecca Eavou, director of Prevention Services at CCHE. to tell us about the work that’s being done to ensure that our clients are cared for. “We’ve worked really hard to try to preserve some amount of service for folks.”

Will Pettway had the pleasure of speaking with Rich Gauthier. Rich is a Clinical Social Work Intern with Care2Prevent (C2P) in the Department of Pediatrics. C2P is a program that involves care and support services for pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients who are living with or vulnerable to acquiring HIV. 

Celebrating the first anniversary of the Sexual Wellness Clinic, Will Pettway interviews Damaris Garcia and Xavier Burgos. Both Damaris and Xavier are clinical staff of the clinic based at the University of Chicago Hospital. Damaris is a STI Clinic Support/Medical Assistant and Xavier is an Engagement in Care Specialist/PrEP Navigator.

Maya Osman-Krinsky sat down with the SSA Interns at the close of their first few months as a cohort at CCHE. Lois Chen, Keyira Jones, and Shambhavi Sharma all come from different social work backgrounds but their time at CCHE has put their previous work in a different, challenging way. 

Dana Franklin, MPH is the Manager of Research at CCHE. Dana has been at CCHE for nearly a year and a half and enjoys working more hands-on with clients. Before coming to CCHE, Dana worked at the genomes branch of the NIH. 

Dr. Anna Hotton is a Staff Scientist in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health. She is also the Director of Epidemiology of the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination (CCHE).  Dr. Hotton’s research focuses on the impact of socio-structural stressors on HIV/STI risk and patterns of care engagement. She received her MPH and PhD in epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.

Dr. Anu Hazra is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health.  His research and clinical interests center around sexually transmitted infections and their impact on sexual and gender minorities as well as other vulnerable populations.  He is passionate about the equitable delivery of healthcare to LGBTQ people of color. Sarah Nakasone sat down with him to discuss his new role as Director of STI Services with CCHE and his journey back to Chicago. 

Dr. Russell Brewer currently serves as Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Medicine and Director of Community Engagement at the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination. He recently joins the CCHE team from New Orleans, Louisiana. From 2011-2017 he was the Director of the HIV/STI Portfolio at the Louisiana Public Health Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has more than 19 years of experience in program development, implementation, evaluation, and public health research in a variety of settings (e.g., non-profit, governmental public health, and philanthropy) and levels (e.g., local, state, and national). Sarah Nakasone sat down with him on his first week as Director of Community Engagement here at CCHE.

Dustin T. Duncan, ScD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, where he directs NYU’s Spatial Epidemiology Lab. Dr. Duncan is a Social and Spatial Epidemiologist, studying how specific neighborhood characteristics influence population health and health disparities. Dr. Duncan’s research and that of the field of spatial epidemiology is summarized in my forthcoming co-edited book Neighborhoods and Health (2nd edition) with Dr. Ichiro Kawachi (Oxford University Press, in progress: anticipated publication date of Spring 2018). Methodologically, his research utilizes a geospatial lens to apply spatially explicit approaches such as computer-based geographic information systems (GIS), web-based geospatial technologies, real-time geospatial technologies, and geospatial modeling techniques. Dr. Duncan’s research appears in leading public health, medical, geography, criminology, and demography journals. He has over 80 publications and book chapters, and he has a broad base of research support. We spoke with him via Skype after he gave a presentation in Chicago on his GPS-based research studies on MSM. 

Ryan Stillwagon of NORC at the University of Chicago sat down with AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s Jim Pickett to discuss his long involvement in PrEP advocacy and what successful PrEP messaging looks like. 

This fall, CCHE’s Dr. John Schneider and Katie Berringer sat down with Dr. David Malebranche, Primary Care Physician at the University of Pennsylvania Student Health Services, and Kali Lindsey, Deputy Director of amfAR, just after the AIDS Foundation of Chicago conference, Sex in the City II: Men, Sex, Love & HIV on September 25, 2014. Grabbing a comfortable spot on a nearby park bench on a sunny, unseasonably warm day in Chicago, we launched into a conversation about David and Kali’s families, unexpected career turns, intersectionality, bisexuality, gay marriage, and what ignites their passion to do this work. 

Judy Auerbach is an adjunct professor at the School of Medicine at UCSF and a consultant for governmental and non-profit organizations, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF), where she was Vice President for Science and Policy (later Research and Evaluation) from 2006 to 2011. Prior to SFAF, she directed the public policy program at amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) and before that, she directed the Behavioral and Social Science Program in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of AIDS Research (OAR). Dr. Auerbach is a champion for the social and behavioral sciences in both research and policy. We spoke with her when she was in Chicago to give the keynote address at the third annual SHINE conference about youth disparities in health care access. 

Sam Friedman is the Director of the Institute for Infectious Diseases Research at National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) and the Director of the Interdisciplinary Theoretical Synthesis Core in the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research in New York City. He is the author of over 400 papers on HIV, STIs, and social networks, particularly in injection drug users. Dr. Friedman has conducted research in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, and Ukraine. In 2012, Dr. Friedman received a prestigious research grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse: the NIDA 2012 Avant-Garde Award for HIV Research. This award will be used to support the Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP). We spoke with Dr. Friedman about his involvement in social network epidemiology and movements towards HIV elimination for CCHE’s inaugural Profile Spotlight. 

For July’s Spotlight I sat with Lindsey Wesley-Madgett, Linkage-to-Care Specialist for UC-PACT (UChicago HIV Prevention and Care Team). She helps clients navigate the healthcare system by providing health education, coordinating referrals and appointments, and supporting clients’ overall well-being.

Will Pettway had the pleasure of interviewing Rebecca Eavou, director of Prevention Services at CCHE. to tell us about the work that’s being done to ensure that our clients are cared for. “We’ve worked really hard to try to preserve some amount of service for folks.”

Will Pettway had the pleasure of speaking with Rich Gauthier. Rich is a Clinical Social Work Intern with Care2Prevent (C2P) in the Department of Pediatrics. C2P is a program that involves care and support services for pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients who are living with or vulnerable to acquiring HIV. 

Celebrating the first anniversary of the Sexual Wellness Clinic, Will Pettway interviews Damaris Garcia and Xavier Burgos. Both Damaris and Xavier are clinical staff of the clinic based at the University of Chicago Hospital. Damaris is a STI Clinic Support/Medical Assistant and Xavier is an Engagement in Care Specialist/PrEP Navigator.

Maya Osman-Krinsky sat down with the SSA Interns at the close of their first few months as a cohort at CCHE. Lois Chen, Keyira Jones, and Shambhavi Sharma all come from different social work backgrounds but their time at CCHE has put their previous work in a different, challenging way. 

Dana Franklin, MPH is the Manager of Research at CCHE. Dana has been at CCHE for nearly a year and a half and enjoys working more hands-on with clients. Before coming to CCHE, Dana worked at the genomes branch of the NIH. 

Dr. Anna Hotton is a Staff Scientist in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health. She is also the Director of Epidemiology of the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination (CCHE).  Dr. Hotton’s research focuses on the impact of socio-structural stressors on HIV/STI risk and patterns of care engagement. She received her MPH and PhD in epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.

Dr. Anu Hazra is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health.  His research and clinical interests center around sexually transmitted infections and their impact on sexual and gender minorities as well as other vulnerable populations.  He is passionate about the equitable delivery of healthcare to LGBTQ people of color. Sarah Nakasone sat down with him to discuss his new role as Director of STI Services with CCHE and his journey back to Chicago. 

Dr. Russell Brewer currently serves as Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Medicine and Director of Community Engagement at the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination. He recently joins the CCHE team from New Orleans, Louisiana. From 2011-2017 he was the Director of the HIV/STI Portfolio at the Louisiana Public Health Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has more than 19 years of experience in program development, implementation, evaluation, and public health research in a variety of settings (e.g., non-profit, governmental public health, and philanthropy) and levels (e.g., local, state, and national). Sarah Nakasone sat down with him on his first week as Director of Community Engagement here at CCHE.

Dustin T. Duncan, ScD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, where he directs NYU’s Spatial Epidemiology Lab. Dr. Duncan is a Social and Spatial Epidemiologist, studying how specific neighborhood characteristics influence population health and health disparities. Dr. Duncan’s research and that of the field of spatial epidemiology is summarized in my forthcoming co-edited book Neighborhoods and Health (2nd edition) with Dr. Ichiro Kawachi (Oxford University Press, in progress: anticipated publication date of Spring 2018). Methodologically, his research utilizes a geospatial lens to apply spatially explicit approaches such as computer-based geographic information systems (GIS), web-based geospatial technologies, real-time geospatial technologies, and geospatial modeling techniques. Dr. Duncan’s research appears in leading public health, medical, geography, criminology, and demography journals. He has over 80 publications and book chapters, and he has a broad base of research support. We spoke with him via Skype after he gave a presentation in Chicago on his GPS-based research studies on MSM. 

Ryan Stillwagon of NORC at the University of Chicago sat down with AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s Jim Pickett to discuss his long involvement in PrEP advocacy and what successful PrEP messaging looks like. 

This fall, CCHE’s Dr. John Schneider and Katie Berringer sat down with Dr. David Malebranche, Primary Care Physician at the University of Pennsylvania Student Health Services, and Kali Lindsey, Deputy Director of amfAR, just after the AIDS Foundation of Chicago conference, Sex in the City II: Men, Sex, Love & HIV on September 25, 2014. Grabbing a comfortable spot on a nearby park bench on a sunny, unseasonably warm day in Chicago, we launched into a conversation about David and Kali’s families, unexpected career turns, intersectionality, bisexuality, gay marriage, and what ignites their passion to do this work. 

Judy Auerbach is an adjunct professor at the School of Medicine at UCSF and a consultant for governmental and non-profit organizations, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF), where she was Vice President for Science and Policy (later Research and Evaluation) from 2006 to 2011. Prior to SFAF, she directed the public policy program at amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) and before that, she directed the Behavioral and Social Science Program in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of AIDS Research (OAR). Dr. Auerbach is a champion for the social and behavioral sciences in both research and policy. We spoke with her when she was in Chicago to give the keynote address at the third annual SHINE conference about youth disparities in health care access. 

Sam Friedman is the Director of the Institute for Infectious Diseases Research at National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) and the Director of the Interdisciplinary Theoretical Synthesis Core in the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research in New York City. He is the author of over 400 papers on HIV, STIs, and social networks, particularly in injection drug users. Dr. Friedman has conducted research in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, and Ukraine. In 2012, Dr. Friedman received a prestigious research grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse: the NIDA 2012 Avant-Garde Award for HIV Research. This award will be used to support the Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP). We spoke with Dr. Friedman about his involvement in social network epidemiology and movements towards HIV elimination for CCHE’s inaugural Profile Spotlight.