Inaugural Visiting Scholars Cohort
Carlos Saldana
Maddie Goldstein
Chenglin Hong
Nicholas Metheny
Higinio Fernandez-Sanchez
Bryan Kutner
Chadwick Campbell
Angel Algarin
Program Outcomes
In partnership with a community organization from an Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) priority jurisdiction, Scholars worked with their Sponsors to pursue goals tailored to the needs of both the Scholar and their community partner.
“I really appreciated the flexibility of being able to identify goals that were specifically tailored to what I needed to get from the program, and what was also feasible for us to accomplish over the course of a summer,” said one Scholar when reflecting on the program.
Click here to learn more about the Scholars’ goals, Sponsors, and community partners.
Through collaborating with their community partners, the Scholars honed their expertise in community-based research methods and developed impactful interventions at the community level. For example, one Scholar and their community partner created an intervention using telemedicine and mobile testing to increase access to sexual health services for EHE priority populations. The Scholar worked closely with community members and leaders to design implementation plans and care protocols that will meet the community’s needs and can be integrated into existing healthcare systems.
Every program that I’ve been to talks about the importance of community partnerships but haven’t really included them as part of the programs. This program is the way to do it. You can’t do this work without your partners.” – Visiting Scholar
“You need to find a few people who believe in your research and then they will help you sell it, and I think that’s exactly what happened with my Sponsor and community partner. They speak well to other people about what I’m doing, which gets people excited, and then I get more excited. It’s just like magic,” said one of the Scholars.
In addition to relationship building with community partners and Sponsors, the program provided Scholars with opportunities for in-person networking with a wide range of professionals. Specifically, each Scholar attended the 2024 National LGBTQ Health Conference, which helped grow their network of peers, scientists, public health professionals, and healthcare providers dedicated to improving LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing. Scholars also attended a pre-conference workshop on implementation science and a program-specific networking dinner to foster connections among the Scholars and their community partners. The Scholars reported that the workshop and networking opportunities were extremely beneficial to their professional development.
“I’m not a huge fan of networking when it feels very surface level. When you go to a table and introduce yourself, they’re not going to know you from the person they just spoke with, nor would I expect them to because these are just five-minute conversations,” said one of the Scholars. “I was really glad that all the networking opportunities in the program did not feel like this.”
We are pleased to share that in semi-structured interviews, the Scholars said the program was beneficial to their professional development, would recommend it to others, and described it as a positive experience overall.
Apply to Be Part of the Next Cohort of Visiting Scholars
The next application cycle for our Visiting Scholars in HIV Implementation Science Program is set to open in late November 2024. More information on application requirements and program details will be available in the upcoming weeks.
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