New tools: New challenges

Deborah Donnell is a Professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington, Seattle. She has participated as a biostatistician in the design and analysis of seminal HIV prevention trials conducted in the United States and internationally for over 20 years, primarily with the HIV Prevention Trials Network. She was lead statistician for PrEP efficacy trials of both FTC/TDF and cabotegravir, and made integral contributions to trials testing the impact of antiretroviral treatment as prevention. Ongoing work includes both efficacy and implementation trials integrating these effective biomedical tools with behavioural and structural interventions in populations vulnerable to HIV through sexual and injection practices. Deborah is active in pursuing novel trial design approaches to advance additional HIV prevention tools.

Hyman Scott, MD, MPH is the Clinical Research Medical Director at Bridge HIV in the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF. His research focuses on implementation of HIV prevention clinical trials, understanding racial/ethnic disparities in HIV acquisition, and using technology to expand uptake and use of HIV prevention interventions. He is active with several research networks including the HIV Vaccine Network (HVTN), COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN), and Adolescent Trials Network (ATN).

Dr. Scott completed his B.S. in Biology at Stanford University, his M.D. at Yale School of Medicine, and his M.P.H from University of California, Berkeley. He completed his residence, chief residency, Infectious Disease fellowship, and post-doctoral fellowship training at UCSF. He is currently an HIV and PrEP provider at the Positive Health Program (Ward 86) at UCSF, and serves as Medical Director for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, one of the largest PrEP providers in the Northern California.

Thiago Torres is a Scientist and Professor at INI-Fiocruz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dr. Torres obtained his PhD in Clinical Research in infectious diseases from INI-Fiocruz, and pos-doctoral training at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and San Francisco Public Health Department. Dr. Torres has been working in epidemiological, behavioural, prevention and PrEP implementation studies targeting sexual and gender minorities. He was part of the core team of ImPrEP, the largest PrEP implementation study in Latin America. Currently, Dr. Torres is part of the core team of ImPrEP CAB-Brasil study, which is evaluating the implementation of cabotegravir within the Brazilian public health system. Dr Torres is the co-chair of HPTN 113, which is evaluating the efficacy of a mHealth tool package to support PrEP uptake and adherence among latino MSM. Dr. Torres serves as the co-chair of the HPTN sexual and gender minorities scientific committee. He has been closely involved in community engagement and recruitment strategies for clinical trials and prevention services.

Deborah Donnell is a Professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington, Seattle. She has participated as a biostatistician in the design and analysis of seminal HIV prevention trials conducted in the United States and internationally for over 20 years, primarily with the HIV Prevention Trials Network. She was lead statistician for PrEP efficacy trials of both FTC/TDF and cabotegravir, and made integral contributions to trials testing the impact of antiretroviral treatment as prevention. Ongoing work includes both efficacy and implementation trials integrating these effective biomedical tools with behavioural and structural interventions in populations vulnerable to HIV through sexual and injection practices. Deborah is active in pursuing novel trial design approaches to advance additional HIV prevention tools.

Adjunct Professor Dave Clark is the Group Chief Operating Officer (COO) and an executive director and board member of The Aurum Institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Medicine in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is strongly involved in the health programmes, corporate services and strategic leadership of the company. His activities include oversight of the financial, human resource and data management services to support the work of the scientific and clinical departments.

Aurum Senior Marketing and Communication Director Kanya Ndaki is a communications executive with over 20 years of journalism and communications experience; thirteen of which were as an award-winning health journalist and editor. Kanya is also Board Member of the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism, an independent media organisation focusing on health and social justice issues across Africa.