Emory University

Patrick Sullivan is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, the Co-Director of the Prevention Sciences Core at the Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), and a former Member of the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. He served at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention as an EIS officer from 1994-1996, and subsequently served in CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention as an Epidemiologist, a Team Leader and a Branch Chief. Dr. Sullivan’s career has included work on HIV surveillance at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV vaccine research at National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network, and research on HIV prevention for men who have sex with men supported by the U.S. NIH and CDC. He is the author of over 300 peer-reviewed publications, most of which are in infectious diseases with a focus on sexually transmitted infections including HIV, public health surveillance, racial/ethnic disparities in HIV, and STI prevention interventions for men who have sex with men.

Linelle is a health psychologist with a passion for intentional change and capacity building at the individual, organizational, and community level.  For almost 3 decades across all 50 states, Linelle has served to grow people capacity nationwide so that community leaders are better able to save lives, reduce suffering, and improve quality of life. Linelle is an Asc. Research Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Emory, the Executive Director of Emory Centers for Training and Technical Assistance, and the Asc. Director, Executive MPH Program, Prevention Science Track. Prior to joining Emory in 2010, Linelle was a National Executive at the American Cancer Society leading organization-wide initiatives and developing and mobilizing staff and volunteer leaders nationwide. Linelle is the faculty lead for the Capacity Building and Community Engagement team of the Emory COMPASS Initiative^® Coordinating Center.

Aaron Siegler is an Associate Professor within the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. He received his MHS from Johns Hopkins University in 2005 and his PhD from Emory University in 2012. Dr. Siegler works within the COMPASS Initiative as the Director of the Geospatial Core. Aaron’s research explores the intersection of the biomedical and behavioral realms, with a focus on sexual minority populations and disparities in healthcare. He currently serves as the Assistant Director of the Prevention Sciences Core at the Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). His recent projects include PrEP Locator, a national database of providers of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to allow patients to locate PrEP providers and allow researchers to identify gaps in PrEP service availability, and ePrEP, an electronic PrEP initiation and maintenance home care system. Aaron’s current interests include issues of how to scale up provision of pre-exposure prophylaxis, how to increase condom use through innovating the condom itself, geospatial analyses to better understand access to healthcare, and exploring novel combination HIV prevention strategies.

For more than 28 years, Neena has served as an educator, trainer, advocate, advisor, mentor, researcher, supporter, and ally to help reduce the number of new HIV infections and support access to quality care for people living with HIV, particularly among women, people of color, and within LGBTQ+ communities. Prior to joining Emory in 2015, Neena spent 18 years leading HIV prevention, education, volunteer, and research activities at AID Atlanta, Inc., and served as a consultant to local and national organizations, including capacity-building providers, healthcare systems, and state and federal service providers. Neena currently serves on the Board of Directors of three local non-profit organizations and remains involved with community-based participatory research efforts, statewide community planning activities, and serves on the advisory board and as a part-time instructor in the Healthcare Management Program at Clayton State University. The investment made through the COMPASS Initiative provides an opportunity to focus needed resources in areas where they can do the most good, in communities that may not have traditionally had access. Gilead’s commitment to the south, and their encouragement to “do something different” is the kind of initiative needed to make an impactful difference in the HIV epidemic in the South.

Kia has served in a leadership role providing strategic oversight in the field of Public Health for the past 8 years and brings with her over six years of experience in research with Emory University. Kia oversees the development and management of the Coordinating Centers’ communications, portal implementation, and evaluation. In her previous leadership roles, Kia has coordinated multi-site international programs, heading up research and training efforts, partnership development and community engagement, program planning and implementation, and evaluation efforts. Kia has been directly involved in a myriad of programmatic aspects including developing programs, evaluation, and strategic plans, data collection tools, database development and maintenance, community needs assessments, grant proposals, marketing tools, social media strategies, publications, and innumerable reports. She has also led multiple research projects, primarily with victims of intimate partner violence, and counseled women with recommendations for sexual & mental health, substance abuse, and lifestyle education. Kia’s experience at Emory and extensive public health and research knowledge coupled with the relationships she’s already formed, have positioned her to be able to quickly add value to the work at hand and hit the ground running in support of the goals that have been defined for this work. Kia holds her Master’s in Public Health and is also certified as a Health Education Specialist.

For 15 years, Althea Hart has served as a program manager for non-profit organizations focused on increasing their capacity to address various forms of social injustices in marginalized communities. Her skills were honed in managing national and state-level programs focused on addressing gender-based violence at colleges and universities, as well as state sexual assault and domestic violence coalitions. Althea’s work has been rooted in developing and implementing culturally specific technical assistance programs and curriculums for populations in the South and of Black/African descent. This work began with her instrumental involvement in the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women’s first special initiative focused on the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) historically black colleges and universities. In addition, Althea implemented the MS Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s National Campus Student Conduct Training and Technical Assistance Project in partnership with Victim’s Right’s Law Center; and has produced conferences, curriculums, and workshops on the intersections of race, gender, and oppression. Her career highlight was being a contributor to the White House’s Not Alone Taskforce. Althea credits mentorship, long-lasting partnerships, and the “friendship village” as the primary contributors to her accomplishments thus far. She received her HBCU education from Tougaloo College (B.A) and Jackson State University (M.S.); and currently resides in Atlanta, GA with her awesome nephew and family.

Carolyn is an evaluator with over 8 years of experience in the Public Health field. In her previous position as a Public Health Associate at ICF, she conducted multi-site national evaluations and provided evaluation technical assistance to community-based organizations. She started her career with a series of HIV prevention internships in Austin, TX and Munich, Germany and served for two years as an AIDS United AmeriCorps Member in Tulsa, OK. While studying for her MPH at Rollins, she discovered a second passion for evaluation and conducted an evaluation of trauma-informed care at a substance abuse program for her thesis. After this evaluation and an internship, she was promoted to the Evaluation and Research Coordinator at Advantage Consulting, LLC. She then implemented and evaluated workforce development programs at CDC’s Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention through an ORISE Fellowship.

Farah joined the COMPASS team in February 2018 as a Data Analyst in Emory’s Geospatial Core. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Epidemiology at George Washington University, where she received the Milken Scholarship for academic performance, community service, leadership activities and ability to overcome obstacles. She holds a Master’s of Science degree in Population Health, a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Teaching Diploma in Secondary School Science from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Upon graduation from her Master’s studies, Farah was inducted into the Delta Omega Honor Society recognizing excellence in practice, research, education and academic achievement in Public Health. Her research interests include sexual health education and HIV prevention. In 2015, she joined the District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR) where she served as a Core Manager. Her exposure to HIV research through grants management and program coordination fueled her aspiration to have an impact in the field. She has since been involved in a variety of HIV-related projects ranging from in-clinic surveys to national-level analyses. On a personal level, Farah enjoys international affairs and is keen on discovering new cuisines with her husband. She is fluent in English, French and Arabic.

Darion Banister is originally from Champaign, IL and attended Tennessee State University an HBCU located in Nashville, Tennessee.  He graduated in May 2013 Majoring in Political Science and Minoring in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. Darion also holds a Masters of Public Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Planning and Administration from Tennessee State University. Upon completing his undergrad degree Darion went to work at Nashville CARES a local AIDS Service Organization in Nashville where he developed his passion for HIV prevention, advocacy, and addressing health disparities amongst communities of color. Darion’s experience ranges from health education of minorities, program development, health communications, and strategic partnerships. In his spare time, Darion enjoys reading, volunteering, traveling and spending time with friends and family. Darion’s philosophy is to enjoy your success but be thoughtful and generous, and give back to your community.

Galina is a sponsored award administrator with over ten years of experience. She initially came to Emory University to work with the Emory Center of AIDS Research (CFAR). Since then, Galina has been honored to be a part of this important research effort and to work alongside some of the best researchers in the field. She participated in the development and administration of the CFAR ADELANTE national grants program, which gives her the background and skills to work with the COMPASS community grants program. This initiative matters to her because it allows her to use her knowledge to contribute to the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic right where she lives.

Rose’s professional experience centers around social justice and non-profit facilitation, program implementation, and evaluation. After her year as an Americorps member, Rose took on a full-time evaluator position at an Oakland-based Youth Center, where she was able to explore a variety of roles and skills. She was able to use these skills for a number of other projects in Oakland, including the creation of a digital marketing pilot program in partnership with Google and the facilitation of a youth participatory action research project on housing and employment. In 2016, Rose completed her Masters of Public Policy and entered public health by working in tobacco control. The COMPASS Initiative matters to Rose because of the impact HIV/AIDS has had on her closest friends and family, communities of color, and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Palmer joined the COMPASS team in 2019 as Resource Coordinator for Emory’s Geospatial Core. Over the years, she has worked on various HIV prevention and sexual health education projects with Emory University’s PRISM Health. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Behavior from the University of Georgia, and a Master of Public Health from Emory University with a concentration in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education. While pursuing her MPH, she worked alongside the COMPASS communications team.