2024 National HIV and Hepatitis Technical Assistance Meeting

NASTAD’s 2024 National HIV & Hepatitis Technical Assistance Meeting was October 16-18, 2024 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. 

NASTAD’s 2024 National HIV & Hepatitis Technical Assistance Meeting allowed ADAP coordinators, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Part B coordinators, prevention managers, and hepatitis coordinators from states and CDC directly-funded jurisdictions to participate in various conversations about HIV and hepatitis policy, clinical developments, and innovative programming. The theme was “Call to Action: Investing in BIPOC Leadership”,” and the meeting included focused discussion on fostering the health department leadership that is crucial to ending intersecting syndemics across every region of the United States. 

This in-person meeting was formatted to include plenary sessions, breakout discussion sessions, and affinity sessions; more than 300 participants attended during the course of the three-day event. Federal partners from the CDC, HRSA, and other agencies participated in a federal partners roundtable and answered questions from participants. Finally, the meeting included informal networking opportunities for health department staff to share lessons learned with peers from across the United States, and meet with industry partners in the exhibit space.

Please direct all general questions about the meeting to Isaiah Webster.

Breakout Session: Take Care of Your House First: Jurisdiction Reflections from NASTAD’s Advancing Organizational Equity Toolkit

Speakers:

• Moderator: Rachel Browning, NASTAD
• Andrea Perez, Illinois Department of Public Health 
• Louise Square, New York State Department of Public Health

Breakout Session: Developing Infrastructure for An Anti-Racist Health Department

Speakers:

• Anthony James, Louisiana Office of Public Health
• Evan Thornburg, Philadelphia Department of Public Health

Breakout Session: Advancing Black Maternal Health and HIV: The Importance of Collaborating with Ryan White Parts and Case Management to Increase Access 

Speakers:

• Dr. Jeffrey Maras, NASTAD
• Dr. Sandra Springer, MD, Yale School of Medicine
• Dr. Mildred Williamson, University of Illinois School of Public Health

Breakout Session: BIPOC Leadership and Workforce Development in Hepatitis

Speakers: 

• Naomi Gaspard, The AIDS Institute
• Zakiya Grubbs, NASTAD
• Dr. Isabel Lechuga, NASTAD
• Boatemaa Ntiri-Reid, NASTAD
• Dziko Singleton, Health Brigade

Breakout Session: Advancing Hepatitis Elimination in the US

Speakers:

• Julio Contreras, NASTAD

Breakout Session: Creating Mentorship and Leadership Development Opportunities for BIPOC staff to End the Epidemic

Speaker:

• Miranda Grant, Dallas County Health and Human Services
• Alicyn Heinrich, NASTAD
• Jonathan Joseph, Alabama Department of Public Health

Breakout Session: Transforming HCV Care Through Data-Driven Insights

Speakers:

• Eman Addish, Philadelphia Department of Public Health
• Bonnie Dao, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
• Thaddeus Pham, Hawai'i Department of Health

Breakout Session: Outreach, Linkage to Care, and Support for Native and Indigenous Communities

Speakers:

• Claire Erickson, North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services
• Jorden Laducer-Dix, North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services
• Connie Olikong, Palau Ministry of Health and Human Services

Plenary Session: Legacy of Empowerment: Commemorating Ten Cohorts of NASTAD’s Minority Leadership Program 

Over the last decade, NASTAD’s Minority Leadership Program (MLP) has created a launchpad for dozens of public health professionals of color to visualize and own their leadership potential in ending the syndemics. From equipping fellows with skills, mentors, and introspection to advance their varied personal career trajectories to building durable pipelines of BIPOC leadership at health departments that mirror the communities they serve, the program has been transformational in operationalizing health equity across the nation. This plenary will reflect on the powerful impact of the program across cohorts, offer stories of resilience and triumph, and meditate on the work ahead for all jurisdictions. 

Speakers:

• Moderator: Johanne Morne, MS, New York State Department of Health 
• Syd Robinson, Wisconsin Department of Health 
• Africka Hinds, Connecticut Department of Health 
• Rosy Galvan, MSW, The Sunshine Collective

Breakout Session: From Policy to Practice: Expanding HIV Prevention Services Through
Community Pharmacies 

Ending the HIV epidemic in the United States requires expanded access to HIV prevention and linkage to care services. Community pharmacies, with 56% percent located in medically underserved areas, offer a promising avenue to address barriers in expanding equitable access to HIV prevention services. There are over 70,000 community pharmacy locations and 800,000 pharmacy personnel nationwide that can help bridge significant gaps in HIV prevention services in regions marked by racial inequities and healthcare access barriers. By leveraging these locations, we can increase access to HIV prevention services by over 80-fold in the US South where HIV burden is the highest. While there is great opportunity to expand access to HIV prevention and linkage to care services through community pharmacies, with few exceptions, pharmacists do not have a policy pathway for establishing sustainable HIV prevention and linkage to care service programs.  

This workshop aims to demystify the state policies governing pharmacy-based HIV prevention services. Participants will explore legislative, regulatory, and administrative rules impacting pharmacy-based HIV prevention services. Additionally, this workshop will explore the complex policy landscape influencing the integration of community pharmacies in HIV prevention services and provide participants with practical knowledge on what is needed to establish sustainable programs. This engaging workshop will be interactive and collaboratively work to identify potential innovative solutions to mitigate implementation challenges in community pharmacy-based HIV prevention services.  

Speakers:

• Speaker: Grace Lee Parr, Legal Research Manager, NASTAD
• Speaker: Sara Ziegler, Founder and Principal, Courage Forward Strategies

Breakout Session: Identifying Opportunities, Challenges, and Strategies for Advancing BIPOC Leaders in Part Bs/ADAPs: What Does It Look Like in Practice

Speakers:

• Moderator: Moonswon Seo, Associate, Health Care Access, NASTAD
• Speaker: Maria Jackson, Care and Services Program Manager, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• Speaker: Africka Hinds, Health Program Supervisor, Connecticut Department of Public Health

Breakout Session: Peers Evaluating Peers: Experiences Evaluating Santa Clara County’s Hepatitis C Surveillance Process 

Being evaluated is putting your program and yourself in a vulnerable place but there’s a particular kind of magic that happens when peers come together to strengthen each other’s work. In 2019, new resources were allocated to the County of Santa Clara Sexual Health and Harm Reduction Program (SHHRP) to build and expand a program focused on preventing transmission and complications of HCV, especially among disproportionately impacted communities. Years later, this opportunity led to a collaboration between NASTAD and the County of Santa Clara to perform a systematic HCV surveillance systems evaluation to understand the strengths and limitations of current surveillance data systems, identify opportunities for improvement, and recommend systems for tracking HCV care continuum metrics lead by peers leading viral hepatitis prevention and surveillance activities within their own jurisdictions. This session will give an overview of the process and outcomes while also including the evaluator’s experiences and impact on their own programs in their respective jurisdictions and how they anticipate this work advances health equity and BIPOC leadership.

Speakers:

• Speaker: Danica Kuncio, Viral Hepatitis Program Manager, Philadelphia Department of Public Health
• Speaker: Amelia Salmanson, Epidemiologist, Utah Department of Health & Human Services
• Speaker: Mirna Jowell, Supervising Epidemiologist, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Viral Hepatitis Unit
• Speaker: Harit Agroia, Santa Clara County Public Health Department
• Speaker: Wen Lin, Senior Epidemiologist, Santa Clara County Public Health Department

Breakout Session: Meet Me at the Intersection: Afrofuturism and the Reimagination of BIPOC Leadership Within HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and Harm Reduction Health Department Programs

In this session attendees will participate in a reimagination of how we can better engage BIPOC folx, particularly those with lived experience, to be leaders within harm reduction, viral hepatitis, and HIV programs. Participants will participate in this reimagination, by engaging in a interactive activity that centers Afrofuturism as a vehicle to create a more equitable and supportive future for our BIPOC leaders. 

Speakers:

• Speaker: Nina Woodruff, Executive Director, Museum of Children’s Art
• Speaker: Dr. Lonny Avi Brooks, Co-Founder and Creative Director/Chair and Professor, AfroRithm Futures Group and California State University, East Bay

Plenary Session: A National Strategy to End the Syndemic of HIV, STIs, and
Viral Hepatitis and its Impact on Indigenous Communities 

This session will honor and center the work of Indigenous people and communities who are impacted by HIV, viral hepatitis, and the impact of infectious disease on people who use drugs. We will hear from speakers who are leading the charge in addressing the unique challenges faced by Indigenous populations in accessing prevention, care, treatment, and support to address these intersecting epidemics. Through advocacy and community-driven solutions, we will explore the ways in which Indigenous communities are working to implement a first of its kind, population-focused Indigenous HIV/AIDS Syndemic Strategy and its critical role in the national response to the syndemic. We will also discuss the importance of culturally competent and holistic approaches to prevention, treatment, and care that consider the historical racism, trauma and systemic barriers faced by Indigenous people. 

Speakers:

• Speaker: Rick Haverkate, MPH, HHS/Indian Health Service
• Speaker: Philomema Kebec, JD, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
• Speaker: Kerry Hawk Lessard, MAA, Native American LifeLines

Breakout Session: The Power of Data to Empower BIPOC Leadership and Drive Systemic Impact

This session will explore the critical role of data in addressing health disparities and improving outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities impacted by HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, and intersecting epidemics.  To effectively address the complex needs of these communities, a comprehensive approach is essential and requires the seamless coordination of public health data and care systems.  In alignment with this year's theme of investing in BIPOC leadership, this session will feature innovative strategies employed by BIPOC leaders whose work supports integrating public health data, incorporating equity principles, and developing data-driven interventions that center the unique needs and experiences of impacted communities.  Panel members will share how they have harnessed data for systemic impact in one or more of the following ways:
•    Leveraging data to prevent and control outbreaks.
•    Linking and integrating data from multiple sources. 
•    Using data to inform decision-making at individual, clinical, and programmatic levels.
•    Building data-sharing infrastructure and developing monitoring dashboards.
•    Forecasting disease progression to drive effective action planning and interventions."

Speakers:

• Speaker: Jonathan Ladalla, Project Manager, Data Systems - Chicago Department of Public Health
• Speaker: Brittani Saafir-Callaway, PhD MPH, Senior Deputy Director, Center for Policy, Planning, and Evaluation - District of Columbia Department of Health
• Speaker: Isabella Warmbrunn, MS, Data Analyst - Detroit Health Department, HIV/STI Division

Breakout Session: Syndemic Prevention Approaches for Empowering Black Women

In this session, participants and presenters will explore prevention strategies and programmatic initiatives being implemented to address intersecting syndemics (HIV, STI, Hepatitis, opioids, Intimate Partner Violence) impacting Black women. Jurisdictional and community examples will be shared, followed by facilitated discussion.

Speakers:

• Speaker: Chelsea Frand, Policy & Evaluation Unit Manager, Houston Health Department
• Speaker: Tyffanie Walton, Ending the HIV Epidemic Community Health Educator, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services 

Breakout Session: Listening Session to Inform the 2026-2030 National HIV/AIDS Strategy and National Strategic Plans for STIs, Viral Hepatitis, and Vaccines 

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States: 2022–2025 (NHAS), the Sexually Transmitted Infections National Strategic Plan for the United States: 2021–2025, the Vaccines National Strategic Plan: 2021–2025, and the Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan for the United States: A Roadmap to Elimination: 2021–2025 expire at the end of calendar year 2025.

The Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) within HHS, in collaboration with the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), focused specifically on the NHAS, and federal partners, is leading work to develop the next iteration of these interrelated Strategic Plans through 2030.  OIDP and ONAP are gathering public input to inform the development of these plans.  Please join federal leaders in a listening session to share health department perspectives and suggestions for the next iteration of the national strategic plans.

Speakers:

• Speaker: Jessica Deerin, Viral Hepatitis Policy Advisor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services