DC CFAR Scientific Symposia

2023 Scientific Symposium

The DC CFAR hosts recurring Scientific Symposia to highlight the scientific research accomplishments of its members. Our most recent Symposium, "Community Engagement, Diversity Initiatives & Investigator Achievements in HIV Science" was held on October 10th, 2023.

Please see the full program guide and agenda linked here, and the various presentations featured below:

Plenary Session: HIV Thought Leaders Among Us

• Continued Relevance and Importance of HIV Science and the CFAR Program* (Carl Dieffenbach, PhD, Director, Division of AIDS, National Institutes of Health)
• Fighting the HIV-1, COVID-19 and Mpox Pandemics in Washington, DC: Lessons Learned from Academic Collaborations with the DC Health Department, Clinicians and Community (Amanda Castel, MD, MPH, Co-Director, DC CFAR, Professor, George Washington University)

Scientific Session A: "We're Not Only at the Table, We're in the Kitchen" Community Engagement in DC CFAR Science

• Panel A: Development and Dissemination of Foundational Documents
  • Building an Equitable and Sustainable Academic Community Partnership: The DC CFAR Example (Marcia Ellis,Former Chair, Community Partnership Council, DC CFAR and Community Engagement Advocate; George Kerr III, Community Coordinator and Chair, Community Partnership Council, DC CFAR, Chair, National CFAR CAB Coalition (N3C))
  • Advancing Equity and Fostering Change: A Guide for Academic-Community Partnerships in the DC Center for AIDS Research (Martha Sichone- Cameron, MPH, Executive Director, The International Community of Women Living with HIV – North America (ICW NA), CPC; Wendy Davis, MEd
    Special Projects Coordinator, DC CFAR, Senior Research Scientist, George Washington University)
• Panel B: Academic-Community Partnership Awards
  • Faith, Spirituality, and ART Adherence among Black Women with HIV: Next Steps and Lessons Learned from the Academic-Community Partner Pilot (Khadijah Abdullah, MPH(c), Founder & Executive Director, Reaching All HIV+ Muslims In America, CPC; Tamara Taggart, PhD, MPH, Associate Director, Social & Behavioral Sciences Core, DC CFAR, Assistant Professor, George Washington University)
• Panel C: The Emergence of Community Based Organizations as Scientific Leaders in the DC CFAR
  • Re-Imagining Community-Based Organizations as Community-Based Institutions* (DeMarc Hickson, PhD, Executive Director, Us Helping Us, People Into Living Inc.)
  • Building a Community- Based Hub for HIV and LGBTQ+ Health Research (Jonathon Rendina, PhD, MPH, Senior Director of Research, Whitman Walker Institute, Associate Research Professor, George Washington University)

Scientific Session B: Promoting Diversity in the Developmental Pathway: National Training and Mentoring Initiatives

• Panel A: CFAR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Pathway Initiative (CDEIPI)
  • DC CFAR CDEIPI Program and Overview: Developing an Inclusive Generation of HIV Researchers through Diversity and Community (Mark Burke, PhD, Director, DC CDEIPI Program, Co-Director, Developmental Core, DC CFAR, Associate Professor, Howard University)
  • CFAR High School Scholar Trajectory (Lauyrn Mills, High School CDEIPI Scholar, Annandale High School & Brown University)
  • Developing an Inclusive Generation of HIV Researchers through Diversity and Community (Haifa Ahmed, Undergraduate CDEIPI Scholar, Howard University)
• Panel B: CFAR Adelante Program
  • CFAR ADELANTE Program: Introduction and Overview (Maria Cecelia Zea, PhD, Scientific Officer, CFAR Adelante, Co-Director, Social & Behavioral Sciences Core, DC CFAR, Professor, George Washington University)
  • PrEP v. PEP: Awareness and Use among Latina Immigrant Transgender Women in DC (Ana María del Río- González, PhD, MA Adelante Scholar, Associate Professor, George Washington University)
  • Immigration Legal Status as a Structural Determinant of HIV Risk for Latinas/os/xs (Thespina (Nina) Yamanis, PhD, MPH, Adelante Scholar, Co-Director, Social & Behavioral Sciences Core, DC CFAR,
    Associate Professor & Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs, School of International Service, American University)

Scientific Session C: Celebrating the Progression from DC CFAR Pilot Awardee to Independent Investigator

• Panel A – Basic Science Investigators
  • Growing My Basic Science Lab Studying Antibodies and HIV (Rebecca Lynch, PhD, Academic Lead, HIV Cure Scientific Working Group, Associate Professor, George Washington University)
  • Small Molecule NLRP3 Inflammasome Inhibitors for the Treatment of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND) (Amol Kulkarni, PhD, Associate Professor, Howard University)
• Panel B – Clinical and Population Science Investigators
  • From DC Pilot Awardee to KL2 (Amanda Blair Spence, MD, Attending Physician, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University)
  • Pregnancy Outcomes of Women with HIV in DC: Results of a single site, retrospective matched cohort from 2004 - 2020 (Rachel Scott, MD, MPH, Attending Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Associate Professor, Georgetown University)
• Panel C – Social and Behavioral Science Investigators
  • Financial Security, MSM, and HIV Outcomes in Abuja, Nigeria: Idea to CFAR Pilot Award to R01 (Rachel Robinson, PhD, MA, Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, School of International Service, Affiliate Professor, College of Arts & Sciences, American University)
  • Improving the Health of Adolescents and Young Adults: Social- Structural and Cultural Determinants of HIV-related Behaviors (Tamara Taggart, PhD, MPH, Associate Director, Social & Behavioral Sciences Core, DC CFAR, Assistant Professor, George Washington University)

*Denotes presenters did not consent to their presentations being shared outside of the Symposium