The Dr. Dawn K. Smith HIV Prevention Clinical Fellowship class of 2024 is comprised of ten clinicians who are dedicated to increasing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness and use in under-resourced communities and in populations with higher HIV transmission rates. These clinicians uphold Dr. Dawn K. Smith’s commitment to service and equity. Please join us in welcoming our 2024 Fellows as they embark on a transformative experience.
Melissa Chruscinski, PharmD, BCACP, AAHIVP, is the Clinical Pharmacy Services Coordinator and Residency Program Director at Aza Health. Dr. Chruscinski received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Florida in 2010, and received a teaching certificate from the University of Florida in 2011. She received board certification as an ambulatory care pharmacist in 2012 and HIV Pharmacist™ designation in 2023. Dr. Chruscinski has served as a Clinical Pharmacist and Pharmacy Manager in two different locations since finishing her residency and has worked diligently to expand clinical pharmacy services at Aza Health over the years. Dr. Chruscinski serves the University of Florida, Florida A&M University, LECOM and Larkin University Colleges of Pharmacy as a Clinical Assistant Professor for APPE rotational students. She also serves as a Career Coach for University of Florida College of Pharmacy students.
Wren George, DMS, PA-C, is a physician assistant working in primary care at a federally qualified health center in western North Carolina. They are passionate about lowering barriers to care, decreasing stigma, increasing access, and providing substance use disorder treatment and gender-affirming care in the primary care setting. In their spare time, they serve on the LBGT PA Caucus Board of Directors. Most recently, they were the recipient of the Dean’s Award for their doctoral work at Shenandoah University on inclusive and trauma-informed STI testing and prevention in the primary care setting.
Lauren Judd, DNP, FNP-BC, began her nursing career in 2013, gaining most of her RN experience in the emergency department setting, where she witnessed first-hand the adverse effects of gaps in care and health disparities. This motivated her to earn her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Michigan with special training in education and trauma-informed care. She is now a certified Family Nurse Practitioner working for Detroit Recovery Project, where she integrates primary care services into a mobile harm reduction program. High numbers of HIV in Detroit, particularly among people who use drugs, prompted her to take on treatment and prevention for this population.
Frank North, PharmD, MPA, DPLA, DASPL, is an Instructional Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy and Director for Interprofessional Learning in Practice for the Texas A&M University Health Office of Interprofessional Practice, Education, and Research. He is licensed in Texas and Washington, DC, and serves as National President of the National Pharmaceutical Association. Dr. North earned his Doctor of Pharmacy, Master of Public Administration, and Bachelor of Science in Biology from Texas Southern University in Houston, TX, and completed several certificate, leadership and diplomate programs focused on pharmacy, higher education and civic engagement. Dr. North’s mission and purpose are to achieve and maintain just and equitable representation among underrepresented minoritized groups, with emphasis on African Americans/Blacks and Black men.
Ruby Nzoma, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner currently employed at Detroit Community Health Connection, a group of federally qualified health centers in Detroit, MI. Her primary role is HIV prevention, providing PrEP and PEP services, along with STI testing, prevention and treatment. Before that, she provided HIV prevention services at Oakland County Health Department in Pontiac. She received her bachelor’s in nursing from the University of Michigan and completed her DNP at Wayne State University. Dr. Nzoma is a member of the 2019 cohort of the Sexual Health Certificate program at the University of Michigan and completed the certificate in both sexuality counseling and education. She is seeking every opportunity to engage with communities most impacted by the HIV epidemic, with a focus on creating innovative ways to implement HIV prevention interventions for Black women in and around Detroit.
Jinga Oglesby-Brihm, DNP, APRN, ANP-C, AAHIVS, earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2019 from Florida Atlantic University. Thanks to the support of her family and friends, her dream of establishing a clinic in an underserved area became a reality when Empower Healthcare, Inc., a non-profit clinic that specializes in primary care and women’s health, opened in Pahokee, FL. Dr. Oglesby-Brihm’s passion is to empower patients to live healthier lives, which includes acknowledging her patients’ personal health journeys, cultivating a safe environment and meeting them where they are. Dr. Oglesby-Brihm has nearly 20 years of experience in the medical field and specializes in areas such as primary care, heart/lung transplant, heart failure, left ventricular assist devices and stem cell transplant. She holds the title of Ronald McNair Scholar and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau. In 2019, she was honored as the Rising Star of Research and Scholarship by Sigma Theta Tau for her exceptional contributions.
Nimish Patel, PharmD, PhD, AAHIVP, completed a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and went on to complete an HIV pharmacotherapy specialty residency in a joint-affiliated position between the University of Toronto/University Health Network – Toronto General Hospital Immunodeficiency Clinic and McGill University Health Center – Montreal Chest Institute. Dr. Patel returned the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for fellowship training in pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling and infectious diseases outcomes research. He has also completed a PhD in Epidemiology at the State University of New York at Albany, School of Public Health. Dr. Patel was a faculty member in the department of Pharmacy Practice at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California San Diego. He maintains two clinical practice sites in the investigational drug service at the Antiviral Research Center at UCSD and administering vaccinations at Student Health Services at UCSD.
Grace B. Penaranda, MSN, AGNP-C, is a nurse practitioner at the Dallas County Health and Human Services Sexual Health Clinic, funded by the Ending the HIV Epidemic – Component C grant. She holds a master’s in nursing from Texas Women’s University and is a proud member of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau. With over 15 years of combined clinical experience as a registered nurse and nurse practitioner in diverse settings, including critical care and trauma, she specializes in HIV prevention and STI prevention and treatment. Grace has co-authored abstract and poster presentations for notable conferences and contributed to writing the CDC grant application for “Scaling Up HIV Prevention in STI Specialty Clinics,” advocating for equitable health care access. Her patient-centric approach coupled with dedication to continuous learning drives her efforts to improve health outcomes for marginalized communities.
Tessa Rife-Pennington, PharmD, BCGP, is a clinical pharmacist practitioner at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System and Volunteer Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Pharmacy. Since graduating from the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy in 2010, she has worked in a variety of roles within the Veterans Health Administration, including medication therapy management, academic detailing, and pain and opioid stewardship. She currently serves as Harm Reduction Coordinator and is passionate about expanding access to harm reduction resources for Veterans with lived and living expertise of homelessness and drug use. Her work aims to end drug-related stigma and discrimination in health care, prevent the spread of drug-related infections and overdose deaths, and increase connection to harm reduction services.
Bernard A. Royal, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, is a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C) dedicated to the treatment and prevention of HIV to bring an end to the epidemic. With a career spanning back to 2007, Bernard has demonstrated a relentless pursuit of excellence in health care. His journey began as a medical assistant and steadily progressed to become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) in 2013, followed by achieving his goal of becoming a Registered Nurse (RN) at Jersey College School of Nursing in Jacksonville, FL in 2015. Continuing his pursuit of knowledge, Bernard obtained his bachelor’s in nursing (BSN) from Ashworth College in 2020 and furthered his education by earning a master’s degree (MSN) with a concentration in Family Nurse Practitioner from Purdue University.