CHIPTS and the UCLA-CDU Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) were honored to co-host the 3rd National Ending the HIV Epidemic Partnerships for Research Meeting on April 15-16, 2024, at the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center. The meeting welcomed over 300 participants from the CFAR/ARC Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) supplement project teams funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), federal agencies, and community and public health partners to explore opportunities to advance high-impact HIV implementation research and practice.

The 2024 National EHE Meeting theme was: Accelerating Innovations for Equitable Reach and Uptake of HIV Services. Grounded in this theme, the meeting aimed to:

  • Facilitate the dissemination of innovative implementation strategies and generalizable findings from the EHE supplement projects.
  • Promote best practices for research-community partnerships in HIV implementation research.
  • Offer opportunities for networking and exploring new collaborations to accelerate progress towards ending the HIV epidemic.

 

Find highlights and resources from Monday, April 15, 2024 (Day One) of the 2024 National EHE Meeting below.

Recap of Tuesday, April 16, 2024 (Day Two) is available here.

Visit the meeting webpage for additional materials and resources – photo gallery, recordings and more

 2024 National EHE Meeting Recap – Monday, April 15, 2024

The 2024 National EHE Meeting began with opening remarks from CHIPTS, the UCLA CDU-CFAR, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), recognizing the partners that made this meeting possible and the diverse range of participants from 34 EHE jurisdictions and 49 counties who had convened to advance high-impact HIV implementation research and practice. CDR Michelle Sandoval-Rosario, DrPH, MPH, OIDP Engagement Team Region IX Director with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, provided an overview and discussed future directions of the EHE initiative, emphasizing the importance of working with non-traditional partners and aiming to address syndemics to better help disproportionately impacted communities. Then, representatives of key federal agencies and local partners highlighted their unique and collective roles in the EHE initiative during the Partnerships in Research: Our Roles in Ending the HIV Epidemic panel session.

The keynote address for the 2024 National EHE Meeting was given by Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, MPH, LCSW, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAAN, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Solutions at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. His insightful address, titled Is the USA on track to end the HIV epidemic?, explored the impact of the EHE initiative since its launch in 2019 and offered recommendations for accelerating progress towards ending the HIV epidemic, including increasing the diversity of the workforce and reducing regulatory barriers. Following the keynote address, CHIPTS Director Steve Shoptaw, PhD, moderated a panel discussion with Guilamo-Ramos and the members of the Partnerships in Research: Our Roles in Ending the HIV Epidemic panel.

Brian Mustanski, PhD, Co-Director of the Implementation Science Coordination Initiative (ISCI) with the Third Coast CFAR at Northwestern University shared an overview of the progress made by the CFAR/ARC Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) supplement projects, and captured ISCI’s efforts to generate and disseminate generalizable knowledge from the projects.

The program continued with two strategy panel sessions that included exciting presentations from various EHE supplement projects. The first session centered on successful outreach strategies to empower communities and was moderated by Robin Lanzi, PhD, MPH, MPI of the University of Alabama at Birmingham CFAR Implementation Science Hub. In the afternoon, Borsika Rabin, PhD, PharmD, MPH, Co-Director of the San Diego CFAR Implementation Science Hub moderated the second strategy panel session on lowering barriers to care through community engagement.

Following the strategy panel sessions, participants were invited to engage in impactful breakout room discussions on how to optimize the strategies discussed, tackle tough questions in implementation science, and find relevant tools to support their HIV implementation research and practice activities.

Nina Harawa, PhD, MPH, Director of the CHIPTS Policy Impact Core and faculty at the UCLA-CDU CFAR, closed the afternoon by highlighting the critical conversations from Day One and emphasizing the need to center community voices and ensure reciprocity in academic-community partnerships.

The Day One agenda and links to corresponding slide sets are shared below. To access the photo galleries and videos of the presentations, click here.

Monday, April 15, 2024

  • 8:00 AM: Registration and Breakfast
  • 9:00 AM: Welcome, Purpose, and Theme
    • Steve Shoptaw, PhD, UCLA CHIPTS
    • LaShonda Spencer, MD, UCLA-CDU CFAR
    • Rebecca Mandt, PhD, Division of AIDS, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
    • Chris Gordon, PhD, Division of AIDS Research, National Institute of Mental Health
  • 9:20AM: Overview and Future Directions of EHE Initiative
    • CDR Michelle Sandoval-Rosario, DrPH, MPH, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, US Department of Health and Human Services
  • 9:30AM: Partnerships in Research: Our Roles in Ending the HIV Epidemic
    • Jazzmun Crayton, APAIT and City of Los Angeles’ Trans Advisory Council
    • Mary Glenshaw, PhD, MPH, NIH Office of AIDS Research
    • Paul Weidle, PharmD, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    • Pamela Klein, PhD, Health Resources and Services Administration
    • Kristin Roha, MS, MPH, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
    • Rick Haverkate, MPH, Indian Health Service
    • Mario Perez, MPH, Division of HIV and STD Programs, County of Los Angeles
  • 10:10AM: Keynote Address – Is the USA on Track to End the HIV Epidemic?
    • Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, MPH, LCSW, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAAN, Johns Hopkins University
    • Moderated Discussion
      • Moderator: Steve Shoptaw, PhD, UCLA CHIPTS
      • Panelists: Jazzmun Crayton, Mary Glenshaw, PhD, MPH , Paul Weidle, PharmD, MPH, Pamela Klein, PhD, Kristin Roha, MS, MPH, Rick Haverkate, MPH, Mario Perez, MPH
  • 11:25AM: Strategy #1 Panel: Successful Outreach Strategies to Empower Communities
    • Moderator: Robin Lanzi, PhD, MPH, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Implementation Science Hub
  • 1:30PM: Strategy #2 Panel: Lowering Barriers to Care through Community Engagement
    • Moderator: Borsika Rabin, PhD, PharmD, MPH, San Diego CFAR Implementation Science Hub
  • 2:45PM : Breakout Sessions
    • Strategy #1 Breakout: Successful Outreach Strategies to Empower Communities 
      • Moderators: Debbie Humphries, PhD, R3EDI Hub, Yale CFAR, and Robin Lanzi, PhD, MPH, UAB Implementation Science Hub
        Panelists: Sannisha Dale, PhD, Glenn Hayward Stepherson, Jessica Sales, PhD, Kathryn Macapagal, PhD, Jim Pickett
    • Strategy #2 Breakout: Lowering Barriers to Care through Community Engagement 
      • Moderator: Borsika Rabin, PhD, PharmD, MPH, San Diego CFAR Implementation Science Hub
        Panelists: Mariano Kanamori, PhD, Stephen Fallon, PhD, Lynn Matthews, MD, MPH, and DeAndra Tuyishime, MAEd, CHES, RPCV, Jeannette Webb
    • Thorny Questions in Implementation Science: What You Want to Ask but Don’t Ask 
      • Moderator: Alison Hamilton, PhD, MPH, UCLA CHIPTS Implementation Science Hub
        Panelists: Prajakta Adsul, MBBS, PhD, MPH, Ana Baumann, PhD, Erin Finley, PhD, MPH
    • ISCI and Hub Tools, Support, and Collaboration to Support Your Success – Enlightenment Room
      • Moderator: Brian Mustanski, PhD, and hosted by ISCI/Third Coast CFAR
  • 3:45PM: Closing Remarks and Day One Adjourn
    • Nina Harawa, PhD, UCLA CHIPTS and UCLA-CDU CFAR
  • 4:15PM: Listening Session to Inform the FY26-30 NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-Related Research 
    • Moderated by CAPT Mary Glenshaw, PhD, MPH, and Amber Wilson, MPH
    • Hosted by the NIH Office of AIDS Research
  • 5:30PM: Networking Reception

 

A recap of Day Two is available here: https://chipts.ucla.edu/news/2024-national-ehe-meeting-recap-day-two/