Stimulating
Training and Access to
HIV Research Experiences:

Dr. Juliet Iwelunmor is a Professor in Global Health in the Department of Behavioral Health Science and Health Education at Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justicce. Her research is centered around the use of culturally salient implementation science strategies to develop, implement, and sustain in community settings, evidence-based health interventions that reduce health disparities and advance health equity. She is the PI of an R01 study aimed to use participatory crowdsourcing methods to drive HPV prevention among mother-daughter dyads in Nigeria (1R01CA271033-01A1). She is also the PI of a UG3/UH3 NIH phased grant aimed at assessing the effectiveness of youth-friendly implementation science strategies in increasing uptake and sustainability of HIV self-testing led by and for Nigerian youth (UH3HD096929). In addition, she has also led other implementation science trials focused on evaluating the scale-up and sustainability of well-proven chronic disease management programs targeted at hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors in sub-Saharan Africa

Dr. Joseph D. Tucker is an infectious diseases physician and Professor at UNC Chapel Hill with a special interest in social innovation and crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing has a group of individuals solve a problem and then share solutions with the public (more details here). He is Co-Director of the International Diagnostics Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His team’s ongoing research investigates crowdsourcing open calls to increase sexually transmitted disease test uptake in China, enhance research mentorship in LMICs, and promote HIV self-testing in Nigeria. His open calls have focused on promoting diagnostics, creating people-friendly health services, and enhancing uptake of vaccines. Dr. Tucker works closely with the TDR Social Innovation in Health Initiative. He has contributed to several World Health Organization guidelines and serves as a member of the TDR Global Working Group. Dr. Tucker has published 449 manuscripts. He received his BA from Swarthmore, MD from UNC, AM (RSEA) from Harvard, and PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Idia Binitie Thurston, PhD (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor of psychology and public health at Texas A&M University (TAMU). She is a core member of the Diversity Science Research Cluster at TAMU and serves on the board for the Society of Pediatric Psychology (APA D54). She is co-editor of an upcoming issue on Health Equity for the American Psychologist journal. She trained at Florida State University, University of South Florida, and Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Thurston currently directs the CHANGE lab, where she collaborates with scholars and community members to conduct health equity research. Her body of work explores how race, ethnicity, social class, gender, size, and sexuality intersect and influence health and well-being in adolescents and their families. She partners with local community organizations to develop and disseminate strengths-based, culturally-responsive tools that reduce stigma, enhance wellness, and promote resilience. She has published over 70 peer reviewed articles and received over 2 million in grants/awards from the National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Psychological Association, and Sister Reach. Dr. Thurston is passionate about mentoring and promoting pathways to psychology for individuals underrepresented in our field by advancing structural and systemic change. She is deeply committed to a re-imagining of psychological science, practice, and training to ensure ALL are seen and represented. She is a mama of 3 and passionate about good food and snatching joy!

Dr. Collins Airhihenbuwa is a Professor of Health Management & Policy and leads the Global Research Against Non-communicable Disease (GRAND) Initiative at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. He is an expert in creating solutions to promote health equity in national and global health and has more than 30 years of experience advancing research on culture, identity and health to inform strategies for training young professionals to conduct health behavior and public health research and intervention. He was previously Dean of the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University in Missouri and authored a cultural model (PEN-3) that is used in several countries to develop programs and interventions to address health inequity. He has served as a visiting scholar to UN agencies such as the World Health Organization and major universities, including Purdue and Boston University, and has served on boards of Saint Louis City and Hospitals, the National Advisory committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Scholars, the Global Philanthropy Alliance, and the board of Scientific Counselors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Airhihenbuwa has authored more than 130 articles and book chapters and seven books, including “Health and Culture, Beyond the Western Paradigm” in 1995, “Healing Our Differences, the Crisis of Global Health and Politics of Identity” in 2007, and his most recent, “Health, Culture and Place: From the Tree to the Forest” in 2022. He is a former President and Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and a fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. He is also the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Scholar of the Year by the American Association of Health Education, the symbol of H.O.P.E award by the American Journal of Health Promotion, the Outreach award by Penn State University, the David Satcher award for leadership in reducing health disparities by CDC and DHPE, and the Mentor award by SOPHE.