Class Notes: Fall 2020

Tiffany R. Glynn, ScM ’16 I am currently a clinical health psychology doctoral candidate in my 5th year at the University of Miami. I received an R36 grant from NIDA that aims to empirically characterize the biopsychosocial syndemic driving HIV acquisition and transmission risk among transgender women in Miami, a city with an uncontrolled HIV epidemic. Given the current pandemic, the study’s secondary aim is to get an estimate of the SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate among transgender women and examine how the pandemic has exacerbated the syndemic of HIV among this community (i.e., how the pandemic has furthered disparities). As part of this work, I am providing COVID-19 testing for transgender women in Miami.

Kelvin Moore, Jr., AB ’19 This is an especially interesting time given that, amid COVID-19, we are also experiencing racially charged unrest. Generally speaking, the past few months have been increasingly difficult as I’m not only witnessing our health care system being decimated by COVID-19, but also processing the weight (now more than ever) that is being Black in America. In these trying times, it has been difficult not to feel anything but immense sadness and anxiety over current social events, especially recognizing that worsening COVID-19 outcomes and police brutality are inextricably linked to anti-Black racism. That said, these times give me perspective on my role as a frontline health care provider. The epidemiology of COVID-19 and the epigenetic trauma of anti-Black racism have further strengthened my desire to provide care, first and foremost, for my community. Blackness is the fulcrum, meaning that the liberation of Black people will uplift and liberate all communities as our society, and thus our health care system, is predicated on anti-Blackness. My work will necessitate rectifying health disparities primarily affecting Black people as that will be the catalyst for establishing true health equity. As a future health care provider committed to the health and wellbeing of my patients, I am also committed to doing my part in dismantling the systems that determine one’s state of health.

Drew Hawkinson, AB ’19 I work for a national public health consulting firm and one of our main clients is the Delaware Division of Public Health. When COVID hit, the State called in a small team of us to help develop and coordinate their contact tracing, so from May through August, I worked as one of the interim managers of Delaware’s COVID-19 contact tracing program. We helped coordinate with state epidemiologists and US Public Health Service members to train and manage 40 field contact tracers and over 200 telephonic contact tracers, provide daily updates on the state of COVID in Delaware, and create a more robust infrastructure for data collection and reporting. One of the biggest shifts was a transition to using Salesforce as our main contact tracing platform (pioneered by Rhode Island!). It has been an incredibly thrilling, firsthand experience and further enhanced my passion for public health.

Kayla McAvoy, MPH ’19 I’ve had the unique pleasure of managing leadership development programs for leading health system C-suite executives and physicians. Now, more than ever, they appreciate learning leadership skillsets that help them manage teams during times of crises. It is humbling to play a small role in strengthening the morale of those working on the frontlines during the COVID pandemic.

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