In a new published commentary in AIDS Patient Care and STDs, SIS Professor Nina Yamanis and her co-authors from the Mid-Atlantic Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) Latinx Working Group identify ways to leverage the pandemic-era momentum to help end the HIV epidemic for Latina/o/x individuals. They draw on original data with stakeholders who work in HIV prevention and treatment for Latinas/os/xs in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The authors – including recent SIS undergraduate student Corey Donnelly – find that pandemic-era policies that should be continued or expanded include:

1. Maintaining reimbursement for telehealth;
2. Recognizing the importance of the social determinants of health by funding programs that provide quality food, housing, transportation, and health insurance coverage regardless of immigration status; and
3. Addressing the shortage of Spanish-speaking health care workers through incentive programs and training/hiring of Spanish-speaking community health workers.

The research was sponsored in part by American University’s Deputy Provost and Dean of Faculty's Pilot Grant Award for faculty–student scholarly and creative collaborations. The publication is open access and can be found here.