Dr. Nina Harawa specializes in public health and health services research on HIV, STIs, substance use, and access to related health services. She conducts research, mentors, and teaches as a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at UCLA as well as at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. As Director of the Policy Impact Core for the Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services (CHIPTS) at UCLA, Dr. Harawa leads efforts to help researchers inform decision makers about ending the U.S. epidemics of HIV, STIs, and hepatitis C. As the Associate Director for Research at the Drew Center for AIDS Research, Education and Services (Drew CARES), she helps shape research directions at the only Black Graduate Institution west of the Mississippi.

Dr. Harawa’s research includes developing and testing creative community-based interventions for populations that are traditionally marginalized within society, including people minoritized related to their sexual orientation, gender, or race/ethnicity; people who have experienced incarceration; and people who use drugs. Her passion comes from working closely with these populations and the organizations that serve them to design, implement, and disseminate research that has the potential to shape interventions, inform policies, and direct resources in a manner that improves health outcomes and increases health equity.