Exploratory Working Group on HIV Clinical and Community Outreach

The mission of the HIV Clinical and Community Outreach Exploratory Working Group is to promote clinical and translational projects that will lead to important new knowledge and self-sustaining lines of research. Our group accomplishes this goal by bringing together interested members of the research and clinical communities and facilitating dialogue that will lead to new lines of investigation. Members include basic scientists, primary care providers for individuals infected with HIV and HIV-related diseases, clinical data managers, social workers, community HIV advocacy and service group members, mental health providers, and Quantitative Health Service/Quantitative Measurement Service faculty members.

The major objectives of the HIV Clinical and Community Outreach Exploratory Working Group are:

• To foster scientific exchange among basic scientists, clinical researchers, and behavioral scientists to develop new knowledge about treatment of HIV/AIDS.

• To engage the community in all phases of the research process, including development of new research questions, implementation of study protocols, and recruitment into clinical, translational and behavioral trials.

• To enable efficient access to untapped clinical data resources to support new multi-disciplinary research.

Leadership

Jeroan Allison, MD, MS is a professor and Vice Chair of Quantitative Health Sciences. His work focuses on database and implementation research with the goal of improving quality of care and eliminating disparities in health care. Dr. Allison has also conducted clinical research in HIV/AIDS, including randomized trials, health services research, and efficacy studies.

Carol Bova, PhD, RN, ANP is an associate professor in the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing as well as an HIV clinician and clinical/behavioral researcher in the Dept of Medicine. Dr. Bova studies HIV and HCV-coinfected adults in the Worcester Community to identify primary care needs, to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy, to improve patient decision-making about HCV treatment, and to understand the effects of substance abuse and mental illness on treatments and outcomes.

Thomas Greenough, MD is an Infectious Diseases specialist/HIV clinician, and assistant professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. He has provided primary care to HIV-positive patients for over 20 years. A basic and translational researcher, his work examines the immune responses that effectively regulate chronic viral infections in patients. Dr. Greenough is co-director of the CFAR Translational Medicine Core.

Donna Gallagher, MSN, MA, RNC, ANP, FAAN, is an Instructor in the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing and Dept of Family Medicine and is the Founding Co-Director of the UMass Chan Office of Global Health. She is a nurse practitioner with over 30 years’ experience in oncology and HIV care. Ms. Gallagher developed the model for the Harvard Health Plan AIDS Team as well as the Care Model for the Community Medical Alliance, the first Medicaid HIV HMO in the US. As the long-time Director of the HRSA-funded New England AIDS Education and Training Center (NEAETC), Ms. Gallagher works to ensure that individuals living with HIV/AIDS receive state-of the art, compassionate care by providing a full spectrum of capacity building, technical assistance, mentorship, clinical consultation, education, and training to health professionals.