The Academy Council for Racial Equity (ACRE) was established in September 2020 by the National Board of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. The Council is a group of medical providers representing various medical disciplines who provide care for people with HIV. The Academy recognized the discordance between the racial composition of the HIV provider workforce and those with or at risk for HIV. This situation creates many systemic problems in care for African Americans with HIV. This problem was what led to convene this group. As a group, ACRE hopes to help the Academy and the HIV community address problems associated with this disparity.
MISSION
The mission of the American Academy of HIV Medicine’s Academy Council for Racial Equity (ACRE) is to address systemic racism, stigma, reproductive justice and ethnicity-based health disparities impacting those living with or at risk of HIV and related conditions. ACRE directs its efforts at the systems that provide healthcare to these communities by fostering diversity and inclusion and promoting healthcare parity through advocacy, community engagement, health promotion and education. The goal of the Council is to work towards a society where socio-economic justice and healthcare equity prevail.
AREAS OF FOCUS
Keeping in line with its mission statement, the Council has decided to focus its efforts on the following problems:
- Lack of African American representation in research as it pertains to HIV providers and selection of participants for trials.
- Address the unique needs of cis-gender African American women with or at risk for HIV. Sixty percent of all new HIV infections in females are in African American women.
- Identifying and highlighting to key stakeholders the structural and systemic factors driving the observed inequities and associated disparities in HIV care and infections.
Ogechika Alozie, MD, MPH, AAHIVS
Elected At Large Member
Sunset ID CARE
El Paso, Texas
Michelle Collins-Ogle, MD, FAAFP, FPIDS, AAHIVS
Vice Chair, AAHIVM National Board of Directors
Medical Director, Montefiore Adolescent and Youth Sexual Health Clinic
Bronx, New York
Cleophas d’Auvergne, MD, MPA, AAHIVS, Dip TB, PAHO/WHO
Elected Vice Chair
Sr. TB Prevention Technical Advisor, CAMRIS International, USAID Global Health Team
Cleveland, Ohio
Alftan Dyson, PharmD, BCACP, AAHIVP
Elected Co-Chair
ViiV Healthcare | Medical Advocacy & Outreach of Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Lori A. Gordon, PharmD, BCPS-AQ ID, AAHIVE
ViiV Healthcare
Brooklyn, New York
Tracy Hicks, DNP, APRN, FNP/PMHNP-BC, CARN-AP, FIAAN
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas
Cherika Johnson, PharmD, AAHIVP
Nevada Health Centers
Las Vegas, Nevada
Briana Journée, PharmD, MBA, CPh, AAHIVP
Elected Secretary
Florida A&M University
Tallahassee, Florida
William King, MD, JD, AAHIVS
Elected At Large Member
W. King Health Care Group
Los Angeles, California
Theresa Mack, MD, MPH, FACP, AAHIVS
Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice
New York, New York
Sylvanus Mensah, DNP, AAHIVS
Johns Hopkins Bayview
Baltimore, Maryland
Olivia Nathan, PharmD, AAHIVP, MPHc
PrimaryOne Health
Columbus, Ohio
Lucy Ogechi Efobi, DNP, MBA-C, APN, FNP-BC, AAHIVS
LT U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
New York, New York
Leonard Sowah, MBChB, MPH, FACP, AAHIVS
Elected Co-chair
Rockville, Maryland
Alanna Steaple, APRN-BC, AACRN
The Neighborhood Medical Center
Tallahassee, Florida
Ada Stewart, MD, RPh, FAAFP, HMDC, AAHIVS
Cooperative Health
Columbia, South Carolina
Shandurai Takavarsha, MD
Lehigh Valley Health Network
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Kenric Ware, PharmD, AAHIVP
South University
Columbia, South Carolina
Kierra M. Wilson, PharmD, BCPS, AAHIVP
Howard University College of Pharmacy
Washington, District of Columbia
ACRE ACTIVITIES
