Tag: Faith Fletcher

New Hastings Center special report on anti-Black racism in bioethics

The Hastings Center has published a special report on “A Critical Moment in Bioethics: Reckoning with Anti‐Black Racism through Intergenerational Dialogue.” As stated in a news release announcing the report, it “calls on the field of bioethics to take the lead in efforts to remedy racial injustice and health inequities in the United States.”

The special report includes contributions from faculty in the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice. The essay “Colonial Geographies, Black Geographies, and Bioethics” comes from Jennifer McCurdy, PhD, assistant professor. Additionally, “On the Shoulders of Giants: A Reckoning with Social Justice” was co-authored by Libby Bogdan-Lovis, specialist emerita, Karen Kelly-Blake, PhD, associate director of academic programming, and Wendy Jiang, MPH (MD candidate at University of Alabama at Birmingham).

The editors of this special report are Faith E. Fletcher, PhD, MA; Keisha S. Ray, PhD; Virginia A. Brown, PhD, MA; and Patrick T. Smith, PhD, MDiv, MA. Fletcher, Senior Advisor at The Hastings Center and recent 40 Under 40 Leaders in Health Award Winner, is an alumna of the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice’s former MA program in Bioethics, Humanities, and Society.

The full report can be accessed for free via Wiley Online Library.

Libby Bogdan-Lovis published in ‘AIDS Patient Care and STDs’

bogdanlovis-crop-facCenter Assistant Director Libby Bogdan-Lovis co-authored the article “‘‘She Told Them, Oh That Bitch Got AIDS’’: Experiences of Multilevel HIV/AIDS-Related Stigma Among African American Women Living with HIV/AIDS in the South,” published in the July 2016 issue of AIDS Patient Care and STDs.

The article, authored by Faith Fletcher, PhD, MA, Lucy Annang Ingram, PhD, MPH, Jelani Kerr, PhD, MSPH, Meredith Buchberg, MPH, Libby Bogdan-Lovis, and Sean Philpott-Jones, PhD, MSB, uses narrative data to explore the stigma that HIV-positive African American women living in the southern United States face in their daily lives. The text is available in full on the AIDS Patient Care and STDs website.

Abstract: African American women bear a disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS in the United States. Although they constitute only 13% of the US population, African Americans account for nearly 65% of all new HIV infections among American women. In addition, this population suffers comparatively greater adverse health outcomes related to HIV status. African American women living with HIV in the South may be further burdened by HIV/AIDS stigma, which is comparatively more pronounced in this region. To further explore this burden, we used narrative data and the Social Ecological Model to explore how African American women living with HIV in the US South recount, conceptualize, and cope with HIV/AIDS stigma at interpersonal, community, and institutional levels. Our narrative analysis suggests that HIV-positive African American women living in the South are vulnerable to experiences of multilevel HIV stigma in various settings and contexts across multiple domains of life. Stigma subsequently complicated disclosure decisions and made it difficult for women to feel supported in particular social, professional and medical settings that are generally regarded as safe spaces for noninfected individuals. Findings suggest that the debilitating and compounded effect of multilevel HIV/AIDS stigma on HIV-positive African American women in the South warrants closer examination to tailor approaches that effectively address the unique needs of this population.

To learn more about Dr. Faith Fletcher’s work in this area, visit our webinar archive to watch her lecture “Ethical Implications of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for African American Women and Adolescent Girls,” recorded in February 2016 as part of our Bioethics Brownbag & Webinar Series.

HIV prevention: benefits, barriers, and ethical concerns

bbag-icon-decEthical Implications of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for African American Women and Adolescent Girls

Event Flyer

Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a new HIV prevention strategy approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use by uninfected, high-risk adult populations. PrEP’s potential as an HIV preventive strategy/biomedical method for adolescents is unknown. The presentation will present preliminary results from a study that examined benefits, barriers, and ethical concerns associated with Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) utilization and clinical trial participation among African American adolescent girls. Study findings have the potential to generate evidence-based data to inform HIV research ethics practices and increase just and fair access to HIV scientific advances.

feb-17-bbagJoin us for Faith Fletcher’s lecture on Wednesday, February 17, 2016 from noon till 1 pm in person or online.

Faith E. Fletcher is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Community Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Prior to joining UIC faculty in 2013, Dr. Fletcher completed a National Cancer Institute R25T- funded postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Behavioral Science at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The ultimate goal of her research program is to address HIV-related health inequities by understanding barriers that prevent African American women and adolescent girls from accessing innovative HIV preventive methods and treatment. Recent awards include joint funding through the Developmental Center for AIDS Research and Center for Clinical and Translational Science; Kaiser Permanente Burch Minority Leadership Fellowship; Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health Research (BIRCWH K12) Fellowship; Visiting Professor in Minority Health through Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine’s Program in Public Health; and an HIV Research Ethics Training Institute (RETI) Fellowship through Fordham University’s Center for Ethics Education. Dr. Fletcher received her foundation in bioethics and social justice through Tuskegee University’s National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care and Michigan State University’s Interdisciplinary Program in Bioethics, Humanities and Society. She completed her PhD in Health Behavior and Promotion from the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health in 2011.

In person: This lecture will take place in C102 East Fee Hall on MSU’s East Lansing campus. Feel free to bring your lunch! Beverages and light snacks will be provided.

Online: Here are some instructions for your first time joining the webinar, or if you have attended or viewed them before, go to the meeting!

Can’t make it? All webinars are recorded! View our archive of recorded lectures.

BHS MA alum Dr. Faith Fletcher Receives Kaiser Permanente Burch Minority Leadership Development Award

faith-fletcher-2013Read more via ASPPH: “UIC Faculty Receives Kaiser Permanente Burch Minority Leadership Development Award”

Dr. Faith Fletcher is a 2006 graduate of the Michigan State University Bioethics, Humanities, and Society MA program. Dr. Fletcher is an assistant professor in the division of community health sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.