AED Expert Speaks at International Conference on AIDS

AED’s Cornelius Baker recently spoke on a panel in Vienna, Austria at the International Conference on AIDS.  The conference, held July 18-23 this year,  is the main gathering of people working to end the pandemic–be they policymakers, researchers, health care providers, or persons living with HIV.

“If you’re not doing research with black women and gay men, you’re not answering the question; you’re wasting money,” Baker said on the panel about the importance of using participatory approaches.

Baker is project director for the NIH/NIAID National HIV Vaccine Research Education Initiative with the AED Center on AIDS & Community Health. He also serves as the National Policy Advisor for the National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition, which is dedicated to addressing exceptionally and unacceptably high rates of HIV infection among U.S. black gay men.

Also on the panel, titled Community Involvement in the Development and Implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, were:

• Dr. Helene Gayle, President and CEO of CARE USA (moderator)
• Chris Collins, Vice President and Director of Public Policy at the Foundation for AIDS Research
• David Munar, Vice President of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago
• Naina Khanna, Director of Policy & Community Organizing, Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Disease (WORLD), and Coordinator of the U.S. Positive Women’s Network (PWN)
• Dawn Averitt-Bridge, Founder and Chair of The Well Project
• Phill Wilson, President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute

Watch the video here.