Sybil Hosek, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist/HIV Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Infectious Disease at Stroger Hospital of Cook County, and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Rush University, with over 20 years of experience in the development and implementation of HIV-related research studies and behavioral interventions.
Professor Nelson serves as Associate Dean of Global Affairs and Planetary Health at the Yale School of Nursing, as well as the Director of Justice, Community Capacity & Equity in the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at the Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Nelson’s domestic and international research investigates the implementation and effectiveness of multi-level intervention strategies to reduce race and sexuality-based disparities in HIV outcomes. He is recognized as the world’s leading authority on the application of self- determination theory for HIV prevention and care. His research also involves identifying interventions to address intersectional stigma at the organizational level and treating the traumatic effects of intersectional stigma that manifests at the individual-level. He co-founded the Central and West Africa Implementation Science Alliance (CAWISA)—a collaboration of implementation scientists and implementing agencies from Cameroon, Congo, Ghana and Nigeria aimed to improve HIV related outcomes among adolescents the region. He is also leading implementation science efforts to reduce racial disparities in HIV incidence, treatment and viral suppression among African, Caribbean, and Black communities in Canada. His work in the US focuses on the use of multi-level (e.g., social/structural, behavioral, and clinical) interventions to reduce HIV infections among Black MSM.
Dr. Timothy Mastro is Chief Science Officer at FHI 360, Durham, North Carolina, USA. He is also Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Mastro oversees FHI 360’s research and science-based programs conducted in the United States and through FHI 360’s offices in 50 countries around the world. He joined FHI 360 in 2008 following 20 years in scientific leadership positions at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); he joined CDC in 1988 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer. His work has addressed research and programs on HIV treatment and prevention; COVID-19; TB; STIs; infectious diseases; and clinical trials of HIV vaccines and prevention methods. During 1993‐2000, he served in Bangkok as Director of the Thai Ministry of Public Health – US CDC Collaboration (TUC).
Dr. Mastro has authored 200 published articles and book chapters and has served on several committees for the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, PEPFAR and the US National Institutes of Health. Dr. Mastro trained in internal medicine in New York City at Metropolitan Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and received a DTM&H from the Royal College of Physicians of London. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the American Epidemiological Society.
Christina Psaros, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She is the Associate Director of the Behavioral Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital where she also co-leads the Qualitative Research Unit in the Division of Clinical Research. Her research has focused primarily on psychosocial aspects of HIV care and prevention for cisgender women both domestically and abroad, and men who have sex with men, with an emphasis on intervention development. She has led NIH funded studies in the United States (e.g., R34MH118044, R34AT009170) and South Africa (e.g., K23MH096651, R01MH112385), and developed the adherence intervention protocols for two major PrEP trials (HPTN083 and Partners PrEP). She has over 80 publications and is the first author on the Lifesteps for PrEP intervention manual, which is part of the CDC compendium of evidence-based interventions and best practices for HIV prevention. She provides mentorship to junior investigators, post-doctoral fellows, and other mentees/students around qualitative methods, intervention development, and behavioral science.
Marguerita Lightfoot, PhD, is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, Chief for the Division of Prevention Science, Director of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), Director of the UCSF Prevention Research Center and she holds the Walter Gray Endowed Chair. Her research focus has been improving the health and well-being of adolescents and young adults as well as the development of efficacious interventions to reduce acquisition and transmission of HIV among those populations disproportionately burdened by the epidemic. Her domestic and international research has included developing interventions for runaway/homeless youth, juvenile justice involved adolescents, youth in medical clinics and settings, youth with a parent living with HIV, and youth living with HIV, among others. She is particularly interested in developing cost-effective interventions that are easily translatable with utility in community settings and utilizes new technologies to engage disenfranchised individuals in health promotion activities. She has extensive experience training and mentoring students, fellows, trainees, and early-career faculty across a number of disciplines. She also currently serves as a standing review committee member for a NIH review panel, on the editorial boards of American Psychologist and Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, and was recently associate editor for the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
John K. Williams, MD, is the Regional Associate Director for Asia & Europe for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Williams joined CDC in 2014 as a Medical Officer on the Key Population Team in DGHT’s HIV Prevention Branch. His primary role was to provide technical assistance to several countries and regions in developing programs that address the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men, female sex workers, transgender individuals, people who inject drugs, and people in prisons and other closed settings. He has also worked on special initiatives including the DREAMS Initiative and completed a detail in Central America where he assumed the role of the DGHT Program Director. Prior to joining CDC, Dr. Williams was an Associate Professor-in-Residence at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. Dr. Williams received his bachelor of science degree in Biology from St. Lawrence University and his medical degree from the State University of New York at Syracuse. He has authored and co-authored more than 60 manuscripts and book chapters.
Madhukar H. Trivedi, MD, is currently a Professor and Chief of the Division of Mood Disorders in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He holds the Betty Jo Hay Distinguished Chair in Mental Health. Dr. Trivedi is an established efficacy and effectiveness researcher in the treatment of depression. Dr. Trivedi has focused his research on pharmacological, psychosocial, and other nonpharmacological treatments for depression. Dr. Trivedi has been a principal investigator in multiple clinical trials funded through NIMH and the Texas Department of Mental Health, including a NIDA-funded “Stimulant Reduction Intervention using Dosed Exercise (STRIDE)” study that tests the effectiveness of adding exercise to treatment as usual in improving drug treatment outcomes, the Texas Node of the NIDA-funded Clinical Trials Network, and three NIMH grants entitled “CBASP Augmentation for Treatment of Chronic Depression (REVAMP),” “TReatment with Exercise Augmentation for Depression (TREAD),” and “Computerized Decision Support System for Depression (CDSS-D).” He was the Principal Investigator of the Depression Trials Network “Combining Medications to Enhance Depression Outcomes (CO-MED)” trial, which focused on the use of specific antidepressant combinations to increase remission rates by treating a broader spectrum of depressed patients and by capitalizing on additive pharmacological effects. He was also the Co-Principal Investigator of the NIMH-funded project entitled “Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D).” Most recently, Dr. Trivedi has been selected to lead the team conducting the EMBARC project. This project is at the core of the NIMH’s initiative to identify a biosignature for depression. Dr. Trivedi has published over 380 articles and chapters related to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Mood Disorders.
Jane M. Simoni, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and a Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Global Health at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is active in the UW Center for AIDS Research, serving as the incoming Director of the Behavioral Science Core, the incoming Senior Advisor of the eHealth Scientific Working Group, and the current Associate Director of the Substance Abuse and HIV/STI Scientific Working Group. She co-chairs NIAID’s HIV/AIDS Network Coordinating Committee’s Behavioral Science Consultative Group. Her research has focused on behavioral aspects of HIV treatment (especially medication adherence), and she has led NIMH-funded intervention studies in New York (R01 MH58986), Seattle (R01 MH58986), China (R34 MH074364), the U.S.-Mexico border (R34 MH0846740), and Haiti (R34 MH112378). The Chinese national government has recognized her with a “High-End Foreign Expert” Award for 2015-2018. She has over 180 publications, and two of her medication adherence intervention strategies (peer support and electronic reminders) are included among those with “Good Evidence” in the CDC’s DEBI program for adherence interventions. She has participated in research and training awards on HIV, mental health, and substance use in the U.S. as well as India, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa. Her current work aims to employ digital technology to enhance intervention impact and dissemination. A recipient of a K24 from NIMH and several mentoring awards, she actively trains students and early career investigators across disciplines, having been a primary sponsor on numerous F31, F32, T32, and K awards.
Robert H. Remien, PhD, is Director of the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies in the Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health and is Professor of Clinical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University. Dr. Remien is also Director of the HIV Center’s Administrative Core, Faculty Mentor for HIV Center Postdoctoral Fellows, and Clinical Supervisor to psychiatric residents in training. His research is focused on mental health, sexual risk behavior, and adherence to treatment and care, and he has developed and tested several behavioral interventions in these domains in both domestic and international settings. Dr. Remien has published numerous articles on psychopathology and psychological resilience, psychoimmunology, coping and adaptation to chronic illness among individuals, couples, and families, sexual and health behaviors, long-term survival with HIV/AIDS, and acute HIV-infection. He has served as Chair for the New York State Psychological Association’s Task Force on AIDS, a member of the New York City’s Department of Health Prevention Planning Group, and senior faculty for the American Psychological Association’s HIV training program for psychologists. He also maintains a part-time private practice in clinical psychology in Manhattan.
Judith Currier, MD, is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine. She is also the Division Chief for Infectious Diseases and the Associate Director of the UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research and Education (CARE). Dr. Currier is trained both in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Epidemiology, and her research interests include the treatment and prevention of complications of antiretroviral therapy, gender-related issues in HIV therapy and the evaluation of antiretroviral treatment strategies in resource limited settings. Dr. Currier has been involved in the conduct of clinical research studies focused on improving the treatment of HIV infection. Her work has been conducted through the NIAID funded AIDS Clinical Trials and through industry funded studies. Dr. Currier is the Principal Investigator for the UCLA AIDS Prevention and Treatment Clinical Trials Unit and Vice Chair of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). Her areas of research focus include understanding the pathogenesis and management of long term complications of HIV disease, specifically cardiovascular and metabolic complications associated with HIV treatment