2015 Summit Sponsors
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The 10th Annual Women as the Face of AIDS Summit
ENDING AIDS BY 2020
Keeping the Vision on Women KEEPING THE VISION ON WOMEN Ten Amazing Activists Who are Helping Us Win the War on HIV Join us on May 4, 2015 at the Tenth Annual Women as the Face of AIDS Summit to help honor their contributions. Register today at www.irishouse.org. Angela Aidala, Ph.D. (Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University) is on the faculty of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences. Her primary interest is the intersection of economic, social, and cultural influences on health and illness. Dr. Aidala's work focuses on research, teaching, and service delivery strategies to work effectively with disadvantaged populations in urban settings including people who are homeless, mentally ill, substance users, street youth, formerly incarcerated, and/or living with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Aidala has directed over 20 collaborative community health or services research projects. Her recent work has focused on housing/ lack of housing and HIV/AIDS prevention and care, food and nutrition issues among people with HIV, and methodological approaches to improve ‘practice based’ evidence. She is Co-Principal Investigator and Study Director of the Community Health Advisory & Information Network (CHAIN) Project, an ongoing study of HIV service needs and outcomes now in its 20th year. Dr. Aidala directed the Multiple Diagnoses Initiative (MDI), a HUD-HHS joint initiative that worked with housing providers to better understand the reciprocal relationship between housing and health care among persons living with HIV/AIDS who also struggle with mental illness and substance use problems. Her research has been cited widely in research publications and policy initiatives to address disparities in HIV infection and outcomes including the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. She recently completed service on the Institute of Medicine expert committee on Data Systems for Monitoring HIV/AIDS Care charged with recommendations for improving federal data systems to better assess medical and other service needs and outcomes. Dr. Aidala received the PhD in Sociology from Columbia University. She grew up in Akron, Ohio. Gina Brown, M. D. (National Institute of Health), is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist. She joined the NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) as a Medical Officer to manage Microbicides and Women’s and Girl’s research issues. Prior to joining NIH, she served as the chair of the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC) for 2004 and has chaired the OAR Women and Girls working group. Dr. Brown was the maternal-fetal specialist at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and was an assistant professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. There she was a member of the Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Columbia and served as the women’s health director of the Women and Children Care Center at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, a clinic that provides comprehensive care for HIV positive women and their families. At the Center, she also was a co-investigator for the Women and Infant’s Transmission Study (WITS) and the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group (PACTG). Deloris Dockrey, M.P.H. (Hyacinth AIDS Foundation) is the Director of Community Organizing for Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, New Jersey’s oldest and largest AIDS service organization. As a person living with HIV, Ms. Dockrey has a personal as well as professional interest in public health policies related to the HIV epidemic. She has trained and mobilized people living with HIV to advocate for policies that impact their access to care, treatment, support, and prevention services. Most recently, she coordinates NJWAN at Hyacinth which provides Prevention Interventions programs for teen girls and women living with HIV. Prior to Hyacinth, Deloris was Executive Director at the Newark EMA HIV Health Services Planning Council. She serves on numerous boards, councils and committees including the New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and Related Blood-Borne Pathogens, the Newark EMA HIV Health Services Planning Council, the New Jersey HIV Planning Group the US PLHIV Caucus, the US Stigma Index Project and is a member of the Positive Women’s Network and the ICW NA Minister Antionettea Etienne (Iris House) is one of the pioneers of HIV education, prevention and care within New York City. When we talk about “grass roots”, we look back at Antionettea known affectionately as “Dreadie’ in the streets. She walked into crack houses and shooting dens to get her communities tested for HIV/AIDS and also to get them into Recovery Treatment. We remember when she was at Bedford Hills Correctional in 1989 fighting for services for women living with AIDS. Antionettea and her peers formed support groups and insisted that the Dept. of Corrections implement discharge & transitional planning to assist women that had no one upon their release. Minister Antionettea has been instrumental in designing, implementing and various HIV/AIDS prevention workshops and support groups for prisons & jails, homeless shelters, churches, NYC residents, PLWHA’s Dept. of Health, Dept. of Corrections, Dept. of education and numerous CBO/ASO’s. Minister Antionettea has been and continues to be a strong advocate in NYC streets. She is a member of the New York City Planning council, New York State Prevention Planning Group, former member of NYC Planning Group, former chairperson of Riker’s Island Advisory Board & Consortium. Minister Antionettea is currently the Minister of Health & Wellness for Love Alive International Sanctuary of Praise Church in Manhattan and is on the staff of Iris House. Debra Y. Fraser-Howze, M.P.A. (OraSure Technologies) is Senior Vice President of Government and External Affairs at OraSure Technologies, Inc., a leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of oral fluid diagnostic and collection devices and other technologies designed to detect or diagnose critical medical conditions. In her role, Ms. Fraser-Howze is charged with developing business opportunities in new markets for the Company. She works with lawmakers to ensure resources are available to communities in need of testing. She also develops external opportunities with clients, stakeholders and business partners. Prior to joining OraSure Technologies, Ms. Fraser-Howze served as the President/CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA), an organization she founded in 1987. NBLCA is now the largest Black HIV and AIDS non-profit organization of its kind in America. Ms. Fraser-Howze has been widely recognized for more than two decades of global leadership to communities of color regarding teenage pregnancy, social welfare, and HIV and AIDS. She advised two U.S. Presidents while serving on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 1995-2001. Ms. Fraser-Howze was the Vice Chair of the HIV Human Services Planning Council in New York City and Chaired the National Institute of Heath's Public Education Technology Committee. In 2003, Ms. Fraser-Howze was appointed to the New York City Commission on AIDS and in 2007 to the New York State Governors Health Advisory Council. In 2009, she was the recipient of the National Medical Association’s (NMA) highest honor – the Scroll of Merit and in 2010 she was inducted into the Hunter College Hall of Fame for distinguished achievement. Ms. Fraser-Howze is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Hunter College School of Public Health, New York City AIDS Memorial, AIDS United and most recently she was appointed to the Board of the Iris House in New York City. Vanessa Johnson, J.D. (National Women and AIDS Collective) is the co-owner of the Washington, DC based Ribbon Consultant Group (Ribbon). Ribbon provides consulting and technical assistance services in the area of chronic health conditions and disabilities. Vanessa is an experienced manager, facilitator and nationally certified trainer with a focus on leadership development, community mobilization and public health education and interventions. Vanessa is also a founding Board member of the National Women and AIDS Collective, the Positive Women’s Network-USA, the National Black Women’s HIV/AIDS Network and the United States People Living with HIV Caucus. She is also a Board member of the National Working Positive Coalition. Vanessa was diagnosed with HIV in 1990. Theresa Mack, M.D., M.P.H. (St. Luke's Medical Group) is a product of the Harlem community. For over 20 years, she has provided primary care to HIV patients, and currently provide primary care to both HIV and non-HIV patients at the St. Luke’s Medical Group, where she serves as Associate Medical Director, and previously as the Associate Medical Director at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital’s Center for Comprehensive Care. Dr. Mack is board certified in Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and HIV Medicine. In addition to her primary duties as a physician, Dr. Mack is heavily involved with community outreach in Harlem as an organizer, lecturer, and panelist. Her history and experience in tailoring the message of HIV awareness and outreach to reach historically overlooked populations uses a variety of diverse media (community organizations, churches, politicians, policy makers, television and radio.) makes her a national favorite of consumer and physician groups alike. She also works with local organizations to host HIV testing drives and inform communities about the impact of HIV/AIDS. In addition to her HIV/AIDS outreach, Dr. Mack continues her community work in her role as ambulatory physician of the St. Luke’s Medical Group by rendering blood pressure, administering flu vaccines, and speaking engagements on chronic diseases to churches, police departments, and senior citizen venues. Dr. Mack is a member and former chair of the Board of Directors of Iris House, and from 2010 – 2013, served on the Board of Directors of the HIV Medical Association of the Infectious Disease Society, a national organization focused on implementing advocacy and policy issues as they relate to HIV. She is a bimonthly contributor to the “Ask a Doctor” series for the online newsletter for the Black AIDS Institute. She was featured by the Daily News as “Dr. Angel” in 2011 as an advocate for the underserved, providing quality care to patients who may not have had access to medical care. When asked by one of her patients to describe her, it was said that she is sensitive, caring, well informed, and professional. Claire Simon (New York State Department of Health, Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition) is a lifelong resident of New York City, trained with the SUNY Health Science Center Adolescent Education Program and has worked with the AIDS and Adolescents Network of New York and the Hunter College Center on AIDS, Drugs and Community Health and the NYC Mayor’s Office of AIDS Policy and Coordination. In 1989 Claire began her work in the field of HIV/AIDS as a peer educator while majoring in medical science at Wingate High School in Brooklyn. She worked with the Teen Helping Each Other (THEO) Program at SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn delivering workshops on HIV/AIDS to her peers in NYC and around the country. She then went on to work with the Health Education Department of Morgan State University’s IMHOTEP - Beauty and Barbershop HIV/AIDS Education Initiative and the STOP AIDS Project in Baltimore, MD. Claire is the former Deputy Director for Programs at Love Heals, The Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education. She is a member of various community coalitions and planning groups in NYC and the former co-chair for the Adolsescent Work Group and Rules and Membership Committee of the NYC HIV Prevention Planning Group and the 2006 Community Chair. She served as a Mayoral Program Coordinator in the Bloomberg Administration for the Office of AIDS Policy Coordination and as the interim executive director for the Women’s HIV Collaborative of New York. She is a co-founder of the Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition in New York City. Ms. Simon is currently a Health Program Administrator for the New York State Department of Health, administering and monitoring grants to agencies statewide. Ms. Simon is a Union Square Awardee, recipient of 2010/2011 Executive Professional Woman of the Year Award by the National Association of Professional Women, 2014 Change Maker Award and the Life Changer Award as well as the 2014 BET Health Hero Award. Carmen Vazquez, M.S.Ed. (New York State AIDS Institute) was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Harlem, New York. Among her many accomplishments, Carmen was the Founding Director of the Women's Building in San Francisco, helped found the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center in San Francisco, and the LGBT Health & Human Services Network , a coalition of over 55 organizations and groups in New York advocating for LGBT Health and Human Services. The Network has secured over $74 million dollars in state funding for its members. She is a founder and principal author of Causes in Common (a national coalition of Reproductive Justice and LGBT Liberation activists) and of the Pride in Action programs at Empire State Pride Agenda. She is the recipient of an Honorary law degree from CUNY School of Law and her papers are part of the permanent collection at the Sophia Smith Archives at Smith College. Carmen serves on the National Advisory Boards of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance. Her essays have been published in several anthologies. Carmen is currently the Coordinator of the LGBT Health and Human Services Unit with the AIDS Institute of the NYS Department of Health and lives in Brooklyn, NY. Linda Villarosa (City College of New York) is a media studies professor and runs the journalism program at the City College of New York. She is also a freelance writer who covers health and social justice issues. Formerly, Linda edited the health pages of the New York Times, where she redesigned and expanded health and fitness coverage for Science Times and for the newspaper at large. She has also written dozens of articles for the Times, including two on HIV/AIDS among African Americans that appeared on the paper’s front page. The former executive editor of Essence Magazine, Linda wrote the first article on HIV/AIDS to run in an ethnic publication, and also wrote and edited a number of other award-winning stories. She recently worked as a consulting producer on End Game, a PBS-Frontline documentary on AIDS in black America. Linda has presented lectures, workshops and training sessions for dozens of colleges and universities, national foundations, government bodies and journalism associations. At the International AIDS Conference, she has written stories and trained journalists from around the world in Barcelona, Bangkok, Toronto, Mexico City, Vienna and Melbourne. In 2013, she covered the AIDS Vaccine conference. Linda is the author of Body & Soul: The Black Women’s Guide to Physical Health and Emotional Well-Being. A Blackboard Bestseller, there are more than 200,000 copies in print. A graduate of the University of Colorado, Linda spent a year at the Harvard School of Public Health as a journalism fellow. Pre-registration is required at www.irishouse.org. Our Honorees
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