- TAPS Postdoctoral Fellows Supported 2022-2023
- Division of Prevention Science Postdoctoral Fellows
- Recent Graduates of the TAPS Program
- CAPS-CFAR Visiting Professors Program 2023
- Rethinking the Role of Research Incentives Town Hall
- Announcements
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Traineeships in AIDS Prevention Studies (TAPS) Postdoctoral Fellows |
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Please find this Traineeships in the AIDS Prevention Studies (TAPS) Postdoctoral e-newsletter with appropriate corrections and updates. We apologize to the Fellows who were not included in the previous e-newsletter.
For the last 25 years, CAPS has been a leader in providing intensive training and mentoring to support the development of Postdoctoral Fellows who are conducting HIV-prevention research with minority communities and desire to enhance their programs of research.
This newsletter features our TAPS and DPS Postdoctoral Fellows. We are excited to introduce each of them and share their collective research portfolio, which, no doubt, will be impactful in helping to end the HIV epidemic among populations disproportionally affected by HIV who could benefit from research that supports prevention and treatment innovations.
We hope that you enjoy this issue of the newsletter and learn more about each of our Postdoctoral Fellows.
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TAPS Postdoctoral Fellows Supported 2022-2023 |
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Nozipho Becker, Ph.D., MS
Education
Ph.D.: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition
Doctoral dissertation focus: Mixed-methods study investigating barriers to antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among women in rural Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).
MPH: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dr. Becker’s research experience has incorporated both qualitative and quantitative approaches to address social determinants of health as they relate to food/nutrition security, chronic disease, and social justice. During her training at UCSF, Dr. Becker has collaborated on research that addresses issues of HIV prevention and treatment: ART adherence and PrEP uptake, food/nutrition security, and non-communicable diseases (CVD, HTN, diabetes). As an active member of the Anti-racism Working Group, Dr. Becker has contributed toward strategic initiatives targeted at improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism efforts in the Division of Prevention Science at UCSF. She envisions her future research utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods in conducting population-based observational and intervention research as a way to improve health equity and address social justice issues. Nozipho.Becker@ucsf.edu
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Franco Chevalier, MD
Education
MD: Ross University School of Medicine
Infectious Diseases Clinical Fellow: University of California San Francisco
MPH cand. in Epidemiology: University of California, Berkeley
Internal Medicine residency: Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Dr. Chevalier’s research interests include HIV prevention as it relates to the LGBTQ+ community and more specifically amongst marginalized groups which include transgender individuals, and the Latino, and African American communities. He has a particular interest in injectable PrEP as a form of HIV prevention as he firmly believes injectables to be the future of HIV treatment/prevention. Franco shares a strong interest in minimizing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases amongst the mentioned populations. He is also passionate about identifying gaps within the healthcare system at the local, national, and global levels and creating innovative ways to bridge the gaps caused by social determinants of health with the goal of improving healthcare outcomes in marginalized communities. He hopes to merge his passion for medicine and research and work as a clinician-researcher. Dr. Chevalier has non-profit background experience and currently serves as the chair for the Board of Directors of Latinos Salud, one of the largest non-profit organizations in south Florida serving Latino gay men. As a TAPS Fellow, he is working with Dr. Hyman Scott to evaluate PrEP choice amongst MSM and what involves their decision-making process. He is also looking at potential collaborations looking at Monkeypox infection and the difference in presentation among HIV-positive vs. HIV-negative individuals. Franco.Chevalier@ucsf.edu
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Miranda Hill, Ph.D., MPH
Education
Ph.D.: University of Georgia, Department of Health Promotion and Behavior
Doctoral dissertation focus: Support, affirmation, and ART adherence norms within the multiplex networks of trans women living with HIV in the U.S.
MPH: University of Georgia
Dr. Hill’s research mainly centers on examining and intervening upon systemic barriers to health equity among minoritized people living with HIV in the American South. She most enjoys working in interdisciplinary teams which bring scholars and community partners together to conduct innovative yet culturally responsive projects. Dr. Hill has worked with interdisciplinary policy teams to conduct mixed-methods Ryan A. White and Affordable Care Act evaluation studies, in addition to leading community-engaged rural health projects with stakeholders throughout Georgia. She has also designed a qualitative study exploring the networks of Black American trans and cis feminine people living with HIV in the Deep South and has served as a team member, ethnographer, and program consultant in the Georgia HIV Surveillance Unit at the Georgia Department of Health (CDC-NHBS). As she joined TAPS during the Summer of 2020, she was leading a community-engaged study of PrEP inequity determinants among Black American gay and bisexual men in the Atlanta metro (CDC-NHBS). Dr. Hill is enthusiastic to build collaborations with others within the UCSF community while advancing an independent agenda focused on the networks of Black American trans and cis feminine people living with HIV in the South. Miranda.Hill@ucsf.edu
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Kristopher Jackson, Ph.D.
Education
MPH cand. in Epidemiology: University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D.: University of New Mexico College of Nursing
Doctoral dissertation title: “Advertised Health and Risk-Taking Behaviors of Internet-Based MSM Sex Workers in the United States.”
Dr. Jackson is a nurse practitioner and nurse scholar who, over the last decade, has worked in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, UCSF Medical Center, and California Pacific Medical Center. As a Ph.D. student, he coauthored several peer-reviewed studies exploring advertised risk-taking among Internet-based MSM sex workers and topics related to sexual and gender minority healthcare. As a TAPS fellow, Dr. Jackson has a particular interest in the use of novel data collection methods to gain insight into hidden and/or stigmatized populations of people at risk for HIV, as well as how to approach HIV and harm reduction practices in populations of individuals with multiple stigmatized, oftentimes intersecting social identities. Kristopher.Jackson@ucsf.edu
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Natasha Ludwig-Barron, Ph.D., MPH
Education
Ph.D.: University of Washington, Department of Epidemiology
Doctoral dissertation focus: HIV-HCV risk environments and predictors of suboptimal HIV care among persons who inject drugs living with HIV in Kenya
MPH: Emory University
Dr. Ludwig-Barron is a mixed methods researcher whose research interests incorporate an ecological approach to understanding the syndemic of HIV/AIDS, substance use, and gender inequities, with the goal of improving the health and well-being of marginalized communities. Dr. Ludwig-Barron completed a Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools (HSHPS) Fellowship where she conducted HIV and substance use research along the U.S.-Mexico Border in San Diego, CA, and later served as an Epidemiologist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. As a TAPS Fellow, she has received two research pilot awards to a) geospatially characterize sub-group of Latinx PWID using an HIV risk environment framework in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and b) highlight ethical research considerations when incorporating biometric enrollment technology into PWID communities. Natasha.Ludwig@ucsf.edu
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Holly Nishimura, Ph.D., MPH
Education
Ph.D.: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of International Health
Doctoral dissertation focus: Mixed-methods approach to understanding the relationship between transactional sex and HIV among men in Rakai, Uganda.
MPH in Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health: University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Nishimura’s research interests include understanding the social and structural factors that contribute to inequalities in health outcomes globally, with a particular focus on gender and economic inequalities. She is also actively engaged in efforts to decolonize global health and improve equity and inclusion in academia. Dr. Nishimura received the Fulbright-Fogarty and Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) from NIMH for her predoctoral training. As a TAPS fellow, she is working with Dr. Carol Camlin on the Owete study, which uses a social network approach to promote HIV self-testing and linkage to care among fishermen at Lake Victoria. She is also working with Dr. Sheri Lippman on a study to understand the potential impacts of Guaranteed Income (GI) on Black youth and young adults' financial, emotional, and physical well-being (BEEM). Holly.Nishimura@ucsf.edu
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Neia Prata Menezes, Ph.D., MPH
Education
Ph.D.: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dept. of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Doctoral dissertation focus: Evaluation of injection drug networks to inform HIV prevention behaviors of people who inject drugs (PWID) in India.
MPH in Global Epidemiology: Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
Dr. Prata Menezes’ research explores behavioral, social, and structural barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention and treatment services among historically marginalized populations. She has worked as a research analyst within Global Health Sciences at UCSF to implement a variety of monitoring and evaluation and surveillance projects to characterize programmatic gaps among vulnerable populations across sub-Saharan and PEPFAR-funded countries. As a TAPS fellow, Dr. Prata will build on her expertise and explore the design, implementation, and evaluation of social and behavioral interventions to improve access and utilization of HIV services among vulnerable groups. She is also interested in deepening her understanding of the intersection of stigma, substance use, and social support on the health outcomes of vulnerable populations. Neia.Pratamenezes@ucsf.edu (after Dec. 5th)
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Division of Prevention Science Postdoctoral Fellow |
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Michelle Nakphong, Ph.D.
Education
Ph.D.: Community Health Sciences – UC Los Angeles
Doctoral dissertation focus: how exclusionary policies impact the health of marginalized communities.
Dr. Nakphong is a social epidemiologist with over 15 years of policy advocacy and community organizing experience previously working with low-income, urban communities in Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Bangkok as a community organizer and youth worker. Her research focuses on socioeconomic drivers of social exclusion and how inclusive policies can improve health, centered on minoritized groups in the U.S. including Black folks and immigrants, and women and children in low and middle-income countries. She joined the Division of Prevention Science as a Postdoctoral Fellow for the Black Economic Equity Movement (BEEM) study, which explores the financial, physical, and emotional health impacts of guaranteed income and financial capability training on low-income black youth (aged 18-24) in San Francisco and Oakland California. Michelle.Nakphong@ucsf.edu
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Recent Graduates of the TAPS Program |
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Sarah Gutin, Ph.D., MPH
Education
Ph.D.: University of Michigan School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education
Doctoral dissertation focus: Safer conception approaches for women living with HIV in Botswana.
MPH: University of Cape Town
Dr. Sarah Gutin is a social behavioral scientist and a newly appointed Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Community Health Systems at the UCSF School of Nursing. Her research focuses on addressing the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs and rights of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and her research interests include the intersection of reproductive health and HIV care in global contexts, working with couples to improve uptake of SRH services, safer conception, family planning, fertility desires, and HIV stigma. Dr. Gutin has more than 15 years of experience leading and overseeing research as well as HIV prevention and reproductive health projects in both the US and various sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana, and Kenya. Her current research is focused on male engagement and support for safer conception among South African couples and increasing uptake of SRH/HIV prevention services among highly mobile communities in Kenya by adapting an intervention to improve male engagement and couple-level dynamics. Sarah.Gutin@ucsf.edu
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Akanksha Vaidya, MD
Education
MD: Cornell University
Residency, Internal Medicine: Emory University
MPH in Epidemiology: University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Akanksha Vaidya is currently an STI fellow with the California Department of Public Health and the UCSF California Prevention Training Center. After her STI fellowship concludes in the summer of 2022, she will be working in the Santa Clara County Public Health Department as an Assistant Health Officer- STI/HIV controller. Dr. Vaidya completed an infectious disease fellowship at UCSF and also completed a 1-year MPH at UC Berkeley through the TAPS fellowship. As a TAPS fellow, Dr. Vaidya studied predictors of poor health, including poor cardiovascular outcomes, in marginally housed women with HIV. Her research interests include studying the impact of social determinants of health on the lives of people living with or at risk for HIV. Akanksha.Vaidya@ucsf.edu
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Rethinking the Role of Research Incentives |
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Rethinking the Role of Research Incentives: Preliminary Findings from the 3R's Study. As one of the recipients of a DPS anti-racism grant, the 3R’s Study team took the opportunity to think about whether research incentives could be restructured to support anti-racism efforts.
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VISITING PROFESSORS PROGRAM. The Center for AIDS Prevention Studies in collaboration with the UCSF-Bay Area Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) is now accepting applications for the Visiting Professor Program. We are planning an in-person program hosted in San Francisco from Monday, June 12 through Thursday, July 20, 2023.
This year we have two tracks to offer to program participants, funded by NIDA and NIAID. With support from multiple institutes, the program is suitable for scientists with a broad range of research interests. While NIMH continues to support the VP program, we are not recruiting scientists for the NIMH- sponsored track this year.
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The National Transgender Health Summit 2023
The theme for the Summit is Celebrating our Strength, Resistance, and Diversity. Visit the website.
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Are you working to prevent HIV in your community?
We are home to 101 prevention scientists, researchers, and staff who conduct high-impact HIV prevention science. We also provide Technical Assistance in the use of HIV science.
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- Consult with one of our researchers
- Review program materials
- Targeted review of grant proposals and surveys
- Assistance in facilitating research and community partnerships
- Consultations on intervention curricula
- Review assessments and measurement tools
- Share stories of those living with HIV through the Positive Project
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The mission of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies is to end the HIV epidemic and associated health and social disparities by conducting high-impact HIV prevention science and building capacity among researchers and communities to effectively address HIV. Project #: 2P30MH062246
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The mission of the UCSF Prevention Research Center is to maintain an interdependent network of community, academic, and public health partners to design and implement prevention research aimed at answering significant and innovative HIV research questions and promoting the wide use of practices proven to promote health for those infected and affected by HIV. Project #: U48DP006374
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