SYNC 2026 will feature more than 100 in-depth track sessions, covering tailored topics that align with evolving SYNChronicity in healthcare.
All Tracks Drug User Health Health Equity Hepatitis C HIV Care and Treatment HIV Prevention LGBTQ Health STIsSessions
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Doxycycline vs. Benzathine Penicillin G for Treatment of Syphilis: A Retrospective Analysis from a Large Sexual Health Organization
Limited evidence suggests that doxycycline may be comparable to penicillin for the treatment of syphilis, but perhaps less so for latent stages. A total of 655 individuals were included, 539 who were treated with benzathine PCN G (BPG) and 116 treated with doxycycline. For our primary analysis, we included all RPR titers up to 24 months after treatment for all stages of syphilis treated from April 2022 through September 2023.
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I Have Put This Off for Decades; You Remembered Me – Improving Hepatitis C Linkage to Care Across a Health System
Hepatitis C (HCV) is a curable disease, yet many patients remain untreated due to lack of awareness, outdated perceptions, and barriers to care. This project aimed to identify and link untreated HCV RNA-positive individuals to care within a large, not-for-profit health system in Virginia.
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Reframing Herpes Prevention, Treatment, and Care Through a Strengths-Based Lens: A Call to Normalize Herpes and Advance Stigma Informed Communication
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is one of the most common yet misunderstood sexually transmitted infections, often framed through a deficit-based lens emphasizing stigma, fear, and distress. This presentation issues a strengths-based call to action; reimagining HSV prevention, treatment, and care as opportunities to foster resilience, agency, and self-compassion among patients and providers.
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Research to Practice to Capacity Building: Implementing Partner Treatment for Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) in a Public Sexual Health Clinic
This presentation will outline the current understanding of BV as a dysbiosis, the role of sexual transmission in pathogenesis, and the recent findings of the Australian StepUp* Trial. Practical suggestions will be offered regarding designing and implementing a policy to provide partner therapy for BV in clinical settings in the United States based on the experience at a walk in public Sexual Health Clinic.
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Borderless Prevention
This comparative analysis explores HIV prevention, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), and health equity across two critical border regions: San Diego–Tijuana and Brownsville–Matamoros. These binational corridors reflect unique public health dynamics shaped by migration, resource allocation, stigma, and cross-border collaboration. While San Diego and Brownsville benefit from robust U.S. public health infrastructure, their Mexican counterparts often face limitations in consistent access to HIV testing, PrEP availability, and stigma-free services. -
PrEP, PEP & Pleasure: Tools of Sexual Liberation
This interactive presentation explores the intersection of sexual pleasure, HIV prevention, and liberation for communities of color. The Science of Sexuality and Pleasure, it reframes PrEP and PEP not just as biomedical tools, but as instruments of sexual agency, protection, and empowerment. Drawing on the imagery of chains, whips, handcuffs, and doxycycline, we assert that protection and pleasure are not mutually exclusive, but deeply intertwined. Through storytelling, case-based dialogue, and visual metaphors, we invite attendees to challenge conventional narratives that separate safety from desire. -
PrEPared RN: Bridging Health Equity Gaps Through Nurse-Delivered PrEP
This session showcases how nurses are transforming HIV prevention in one of the nation’s highest-incidence regions. This innovative, nurse-led model expands access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) through standing orders, telehealth, and mobile outreach, allowing same-day initiation of care. -
Taking the Test Home: NKY Health’s Inclusive Approach to HIV Self Test Access
This presentation offers an in-depth exploration of NKY Health’s expansive HIV self-test distribution program, highlighting its multifaceted approach to making test kits readily available throughout the Northern Kentucky community. Our primary goal has been to maximize reach, ensuring these vital resources get into the hands of as many people as possible.
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MSM Perspectives on Hypothetical Novel HIV Testing and Linkage Technology in South Carolina
Men who have sex with men (MSM) in the U.S. South face a disproportionate burden of HIV yet remain underserved in traditional prevention and care pathways. Stigma, structural inequities, and limited access to culturally competent services contribute to poor engagement across the HIV care continuum. These barriers are exacerbated by resource-constrained settings such as the rural South.
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Self Imposed HIV and LGBTQ Stigma
Stigmatizing ourselves can be the biggest obstacles, in healing ourselves from the harm caused by the STIGMA imposed by those not educated on HIV and LGBTQ issues. The presentation gives a birds-eye view into my experience as a PLWA in the early days. How my life has evolved into a long-term survivor, and how anyone can heal from the STIGMA caused by ignorance.
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The San Francisco Principles 2020: Centering Long-Term HIV Survivors in Research, Care, and Advocacy
The San Francisco Principles 2020 builds on the 1983 Denver Principles to highlight the critical needs of long-term HIV/AIDS survivors (LTS) as they age with HIV. This important statement brings attention to the linked problems of aging, unfair health access, and how systems often ignore marginalized people within the LTS community.