03 Feb The American Academy of HIV Medicine Announces Second Year for Fellowship to Improve HIV Prevention and PrEP Access
Washington, D.C.: The American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) announces the second year of the Dr. Dawn K. Smith HIV Prevention Clinical Fellowship, funded by a grant through ViiV Healthcare. The fellowship provides comprehensive HIV prevention training for clinicians who do not practice HIV medicine and will focus efforts in under-resourced communities and in communities that are disproportionately affected by HIV.
“The Academy successfully launched the Dr. Dawn K. Smith HIV Prevention Clinical Fellowship last year and the first cohort of Fellows have made incredible strides in their knowledge of HIV prevention and PrEP.” says Bruce J. Packett, II, Executive Director of AAHIVM. “We are grateful to be able to continue this important program in this and coming years for future providers of HIV prevention and to support efforts to focus training and resources in areas most at need, which helps to buttress and grow the capacity of the HIV workforce across the U.S.”
The Academy has leveraged its member base of highly experienced HIV clinicians, researchers, and educators to train fellows in the latest science and practice of HIV prevention, focusing on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is a medication to prevent HIV and is exceedingly effective when taken as prescribed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV from sex by approximately 99 percent and from injection drug use by about 74 percent.1 Although PrEP is a key tool in HIV prevention, recent data shows that there are significant disparities in its use, especially in the Southern region of the United States. Research indicates that, in the South, Black people comprised 48 percent of those who were newly diagnosed with HIV in 2021, but only about 21 percent of Black people were prescribed PrEP at that time.2
“Working with Fellows who are committed to transforming the delivery of PrEP in their communities has been exceedingly rewarding,” says Angela C. Riley, PharmD, MPH, AAHIVE, director of community and provider engagement. “I’m looking forward to collaborating with the next cohort of Fellows and helping to shape the next generation of PrEP providers.”
The fellowship is a 12-month clinical program designed for clinicians in primary care, family medicine, emergency medicine, pharmacy, obstetrics and gynecology, and more. Clinicians who qualify include physicians, physician assistants/physician associates, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists. The Academy will prioritize applicants who will serve in under-resourced areas, especially in the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic jurisdictions in the South. Fellows will perform a mix of clinical work, self and collaborative study, didactics, teaching, and quality improvement activities as well as will access online tools and attend conferences. The fellows will also receive a stipend to support the development of a PrEP clinic in their own practices.
The program honors the legacy of Dawn K. Smith, MD, MS, MPH, a champion of health equity and HIV prevention. Dr. Smith played an integral role in the development and implementation of HIV PrEP and studied the disproportionate affect HIV has on underrepresented communities. Throughout her career, she worked to eliminate health disparities and was committed to ensuring that all people had PrEP access. The Dr. Dawn K. Smith HIV Prevention Clinical Fellowship pays tribute to Dr. Smith’s extraordinary contributions to HIV prevention by training a new generation of clinicians in PrEP and HIV prevention.
Applications for the Dr. Dawn K. Smith HIV Clinical Fellowship are open to clinicians licensed to practice in the United States and can be submitted at: https://aahivm.org/dawn-k-smith-hiv-clinical-fellowship/. The deadline for applications is April 3, 2025, and the program will begin in July.
References
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Progress Toward UNAIDS Global HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Targets: CDC-Supported Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis — 37 Countries, 2017─2023. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Updated November 28, 2024. Accessed February 2, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7347a3.htm#:~:text=Oral%20pre%2Dexposure%20prophylaxis%20(PrEP,continuing)%20PrEP%20globally%20in%202025
- AIDSVu. AIDSVu Releases New Data Highlighting Ongoing Inequities in PrEP Use among Black and Hispanic People and across Regions of the Country. Published June 21, 2023. Accessed February 24, 2024. https://aidsvu.org/news-updates-aidsvu-releases-new-data-highlighting-ongoing-inequities-in-prep-use-among-black-and-hispanic-people-and-across-regions-of-the-county/#:~:text=Data%20on%20AIDSVu%20show%20significant,18%25%20of%20new%20HIV%20diagnoses