Markham to sit on CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV

Published: November 30, 2021

Christine Markham, PhD, investigator for the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research and professor and interim department chair for Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, has been selected to serve on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Health Resources and Services Administration (CDC/HRSA) Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment. The committee is responsible for providing guidance on national objectives and policies for HIV, viral hepatitis, and other STD prevention and treatment efforts.  

“I’m honored to be selected for this critically important committee,” said Markham. “This is a great opportunity to shape evidence-based practice and policy across the HIV/STI prevention and treatment continuum.”  

Committee members work directly with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Director of the CDC, and the Administrator of the HRSA to determine strategies and priorities for infection surveillance, laboratory research, professional education, healthcare delivery, and prevention services in the U.S.. The committee also includes representation from persons living with HIV and other affected populations. 

Markham’s appointment represents the more than 20 years of research in HIV/STI prevention and treatment conducted by UTHealth School of Public Health faculty, as well as their extensive work in facilitating a comprehensive research effort in reaching diverse populations and settings. The school has a number of active and ongoing HIV/STI projects on topics including: 

• Online, interactive sexual health education curricula (Dr. Markham, Melissa Peskin, PhD, Belinda Hernández, PhD, Susan Tortolero Emery, PhD, Ross Shegog, PhD) 
• School and clinic-based HPV vaccination programs (Dr. Shegog, Maria E. Fernandez, PhD, Paula M. Cuccaro, PhD, Sally Vernon, PhD, Lara Savas, PhD) 
• Mindfulness approaches to HIV/STI prevention among youth experiencing homelessness (Diane M. Santa Maria, DrPH, UTHealth School of Nursing, Dr. Cuccaro) 

• Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) use for HIV prevention (Kayo Fujimoto, PhD, Michael Wilkerson, PhD) 
• HIV prevention and treatment among injected drug users in Tanzania (Sheryl McCurdy, PhD) 
• Sexual and reproductive health for adolescents in India (Marie Brault, PhD) 

 “This appointment is a testament to our faculty’s commitment to innovation in the HIV/STI space,” she said. 

Markham will serve a five-year term on the advisory committee from December 1st, 2021 to November 2025.