Nina Harawa

Dr. Nina Harawa is a Professor-in-Residence with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  She also has a faculty appointment at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science where she serves as faculty leader for the university’s Center for AIDS Research Education and Services (Drew CARES). Trained in Epidemiology, Dr. Harawa’s research involves understanding trends in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and developing effective, culturally relevant interventions for prevention, care, and treatment.  She has conducted innovative research with a variety of populations – including high-risk African American men, sexually active African American and Latina women, older adults, and transgender women.  Much of this work has involved partnering with local governmental and community organizations in order to address health issues in populations that experience major health disparities. She currently co-leads two multi-site NIDA-funded studies. One examines the impacts of incarceration and related interventions and policies on HIV in Black men who have sex with men. The second will test an intervention to help HIV-positive young people leaving jail to link to and be retained in HIV medical care. In addition, she leads a California HIV/AIDS Research Program study to test the effectiveness of a peer-supported, incentive/mobile app-based intervention to encourage PrEP uptake and ongoing HIV/STI screening for people leaving jail. Dr. Harawa also directs the policy core of the NIMH-funded Center for HIV Identification Prevention and Treatment Services (CHIPTS) and co-directs the National Coordinating Center at UCLA for the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR). She was a RCMAR Scholar and is committed to efforts to support diversification of the biomedical research workforce.