The schedule presented here is subject to change as the agenda is finalized.
This schedule is preliminary and subject to change.
This session explores the use of interactive storytelling within community theater as a tool to engage audiences on HIV and other STI prevention, focusing on PrEP usage and combating social determinants of health. The session examines and challenges the effectiveness of storytelling in raising awareness, changing attitudes, and promoting health behaviors among diverse communities.
This study highlights the importance of culturally responsive, age-appropriate interventions and underscores the need for comprehensive structural strategies to reduce disparities and promote equitable sexual health outcomes for aging populations.
Biomedical HIV prevention is advancing rapidly and offers new opportunities to reshape the global HIV epidemic. This dynamic and timely SYNC plenary session will delve into the latest development in HIV prevention: the twice-yearly injectable lenacapavir (LEN) as PrEP, which is a transformative tool for reducing HIV transmission, particularly among those who face challenges with daily adherence, stigma, or access to health care.
To address the intersecting epidemics of HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV), and syphilis in Miami-Dade County, Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF) expanded its innovative Electronic Health Record (EHR) syndemic screening model across multiple emergency departments in 2024. Building on the success of Homestead Hospital (HH) and West Kendall Baptist Hospital’s (WKBH) routine HIV/HCV screening program, Baptist Main Hospital (BMH) and South Miami Hospital (SMH) implemented scalable workflows and smart syphilis screening algorithms into their EHR. This expansion was supported by strategic public-private partnerships with hospital leadership and the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County (DOH-Miami-Dade) which provided a dedicated Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) to ensure timely linkage to care and prevention services.
This presentation provides an update on federal reproductive healthcare and access litigation and policy, and highlights strategies for systems change, including policy reforms, advocacy, research, collaboration, and capacity-building to address the implications of unequal access to sex education.
Participants will learn “how-to” techniques for initiating and guiding conversations about sexual history through a lens of prevention, risk reduction, and patient-centered care. The presentation will emphasize creating a safe, respectful, and non-judgmental environment that encourages patients to ask questions and engage openly. Special attention will be given to the unique challenges faced in rural communities, where stigma, limited resources, and lack of formal education can further inhibit discussions about sexual health.
Evidence shows there are gaps in clinicians’ skills in providing comprehensive sexual health care across diverse populations. Simulation in clinical training has emerged as an effective pedagogy to facilitate student learning of knowledge, skills, and attitudes on a variety of healthcare topics. Faculty at the University of Rochester School of Nursing developed a sexual health simulation for three graduate nurse practitioner (NP) programs (Adult-Gerontology, Family, and Pediatric Primary Care).
This presentation will highlight how to build a successful HIV testing program in the community. These are not abstract methods, but concrete steps to provide a clear plan on creating an HIV testing program that will ensure more people will have access to free, rapid testing.
This presentation will discuss the opportunities for implementing linkage to comprehensive services by assessing populations who are seen in the ED testing for STIs, including syphilis and HIV. We will explore the operations of identifying eligible patients, including our collaborations with the public health department, our Infectious Disease Clinic, and our Title V Clinic. We will highlight what is going well and discuss areas of improvement.
This presentation will also review the successes and challenges of launching a rapid PrEP program in an ED setting.
In 2006, the CDC shared revised guidance recommending HIV testing be provided to individuals 13-64 years of age, regardless of risk, in all health-care settings unless patients opt out of the service. This approach, known as Routine Opt-Out HIV Testing (ROOT), is key in identifying persons with undiagnosed HIV, persons previously testing positive but not engaged in HIV care or virally suppressed, and persons testing negative that could be referred to preventative services.
As part of the Hillsborough Health Equity Plan, a formative research initiative was conducted to increase the uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among Black and Latinx men who have sex with men (MSM) aged 25–34 in Hillsborough County, Florida. The study explored patient and provider experiences within on-demand care settings, such as urgent care clinics and emergency departments (EDs), where opportunities for PrEP intervention are often missed.
The North Jersey Community Research Initiative (NJCRI) conducted a retrospective chart review to evaluate real-world utilization of oral and long-acting injectable PrEP (LA-Cabotegravir) among individuals accessing services between 2024 and 2025. NJCRI serves a predominantly Black and Brown, urban population in Newark, NJ, many of whom face housing instability, food insecurity, and limited access to affirming healthcare.
The U.S. has approved long-acting injectable PrEP options such as cabotegravir (Apretude) and lenacapavir (Yzugo), yet major challenges remain around equitable access, demand generation, and health-system readiness. This project explores what the United States can learn from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that successfully expanded injectable contraceptives, an intervention with striking parallels to injectable PrEP.
Since 2018, Texas has faced a steep rise in syphilis cases particularly among marginalized groups such as Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black individuals. These findings are parallel to HIV trends in Texas. This model merges surveillance with proactive prevention and clinical coordination, targeting individuals at heightened HIV risk. Ongoing data collection on patient demographics, barriers, and facilitators will optimize implementation and elevate prevention outcomes in underserved communities.
Strengthening OBGYN capacity to integrate PrEP into routine care is critical to reducing HIV incidence and advancing health equity for Black women in Mississippi. Findings will guide a forthcoming statewide, grant-funded initiative to scale PrEP delivery in women’s health settings, supporting the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative’s goals and addressing persistent disparities in HIV prevention access and outcomes.
Beyond the Red Ribbon will allow participants to reimagine HIV/STI prevention and service provision through a sex positive lens. Attendees will develop an understanding of sex positivity and examine the necessity for incorporating an individualized, person-centered approach to sexual health. This presentation aims to enhance service providers’ ability to engage clients/patients in topics such as sexual behavior and expression, non-traditional relationship structures (e.g., polyamory, swinging, and other forms of non-monogamy), and self-care, along with HIV/STI prevention and treatment.
This presentation explores the evolution of HIV prevention through the perspective of a Black woman, Community Health Advocate, and clinical research participant deeply engaged in advancing PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) innovation. While biomedical advancements from daily oral PrEP to long acting injectables have expanded prevention options, Black communities remain underrepresented in research and disproportionately impacted by persistent barriers to access. Through a lived-experience narrative, this session examines how medical mistrust, historical trauma, and unequal power dynamics shape community attitudes toward clinical research and preventive care.
Congenital syphilis is a completely preventable condition that imposes a significant clinical and financial burden on our current strained healthcare system. In response to rising infection rates in Miami-Dade County, Homestead Hospital (HH) implemented an innovative, Electronic Health Record-integrated Syphilis Screening Algorithm in 2019, embedded within its existing routine HIV and Hepatitis C testing infrastructure.
While a myriad of health education and prevention programs exist in the community and on HBCU college campuses, most women are unaware of these resources and, most importantly, the availability and effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), despite being at greater risk of HIV. Black Women and HIV: Empowerment through Engagement, Education, and Enrichment (“Empower”) is an HBCU led, collaborative, multi-year initiative committed to advancing HIV prevention and sexual health among Black women by implementing culturally responsive education and community engagement.
Emergency departments (EDs) serve as a critical access point for medically underserved populations, including individuals with substance use disorders (SUD), co-occurring psychiatric disorders (COD), and those at elevated risk for HIV. This presentation aims to describe a publicly funded HIV prevention and health services program co-located in two affiliated urban Midwestern EDs, to describe any differences among patients who did and did not receive HIV testing, and to discuss strategies for leveraging Health Promotion Advocates (HPAs) in ED settings.
This session explores innovative approaches to pharmacy workforce development that are reshaping how we train, mentor, and deploy future pharmacy professionals. As healthcare shifts toward community-based, prevention-focused models, there is an urgent need to prepare students, residents, and early-career pharmacists to lead in areas like HIV prevention, chronic disease management, and health equity. Drawing on the success of the Legacy Pharmacy Internship Program and AmeriCorps Pharmacy Advocate initiative, we highlight scalable strategies for embedding learners in high-impact roles that serve marginalized populations.
Heather Ivy Society, Faebris Medical, Clinipharm Global Health, and Trustee Drugs present an innovative project aimed at transforming HIV care in Atlanta. The collaboration introduces an alternative care model to mitigate HIV disparities in a high-impact area. Our program initiative, The End Starts With “U” - Unifying HIV Service Delivery, introduces a pharmacist-led care model that includes HIV testing coupled with advanced HIV prevention and treatment.
Many healthcare organizations are exploring the use of artificial intelligence to improve care and streamline operations but often face uncertainty about how to begin. This session provides a clear and practical entry point for HIV service systems that want to integrate AI responsibly, particularly those working with limited resources.
This session explores how person-centered instructional design can improve HIV prevention efforts by enhancing engagement, reducing stigma, and supporting provider readiness. Using examples like PrEP and DoxyPEP, we’ll show how culturally responsive, empathetic eLearning can bridge the implementation gap and empower diverse learners to make informed, stigma-free decisions.
Information on credits offered to SYNC participants for attending institutes, sessions, and plenaries — live or in-person — is available here.
This conference is supported, in part, by independent educational grants from ineligible companies. A full list of supporters is available here. All accredited content has been developed and delivered in accordance with the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence and the criteria of Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education™, and is free of commercial bias.