Conference on April 21 Focuses on AIDS Prevention

The Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) at UCSF is partnering with the National AIDS Fund (NAF) to host the Fifth CAPS HIV Prevention Conference slated for Friday, April 21. The conference will convene at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 450 Powell Street in San Francisco. This conference will bring CAPS's research methods, findings and programs, and NAF's grantmaking experience to service providers, health departments, community-planning councils, scientists, policy makers and community partners. The conference will feature speakers, and workshops and interactive events that encourage an exchange of ideas about current issues in HIV prevention. The workshop tracks this year feature the ever-popular research panels: connecting community and research through policy, funding and intervention, skills building with hands-on training and practice, and a focus on men who have sex with men. Keynote presenters are: Cynthia Gómez, PhD: Co-director of CAPS and an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at UCSF, Gómez is considered a pioneer in the areas of cultural determinants in sexual behaviors among Latinos, the role of power dynamics in sexual risk among women, and in the development of prevention interventions among people living with HIV. Her research has focused primarily on HIV prevention intervention development, behavioral epidemiology, and on HIV policy-related research. Prior to coming to CAPS, Gómez spent 12 years working in community health settings, including five years as director of a child and family mental health center in Boston. Gómez was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in President Bill Clinton's administration and subsequently served as an appointed member to George W. Bush administration's Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Gary Harper, PhD, MPH: A professor in the Department of Psychology at DePaul University, Harper focuses his research on exploring HIV sexual risk and protective factors among various groups of adolescents and young adults who are marginalized in our society, including urban Latino and African American youth, gay/bisexual/questioning male youth, and youth living with HIV; and then developing and evaluating culturally appropriate community-based HIV prevention interventions for these people. Since the majority of his HIV prevention work is conducted in collaboration with community-based organizations, he also examines the formation of community-university partnerships to improve research and service delivery. Harper recently brought his prevention work to Kenya, where he has been developing a peer-to-peer HIV prevention program for youth in rural areas outside of Nairobi. For the conference agenda, registration fees, and other information and to register for the conference, visit the CAPS website. Source: Jeff Sheehy