Jennifer Beard

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Jennifer Beard is an American physician who is Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), associate editor of Public Health Post, leads the BUSPH Public Health Writing Program and also directs the MPH certificates in Global Health and Program Management. [1]

Contents

Education

Beard has a BA from Youngstown State University (1988) and an MA from Ohio University (1991), both in English literature. She has a PhD from the University of New Hampshire (1998) and an MPH in International Health from Boston University (2006). [1]

Career

Beard was the founder of the BU Program for Global Health Storytelling [2] which brings together the BUSPH, the BU College of Communication, and the Pulitzer Center. Her “scholarship explores the intersection between population health, the arts and humanities, and journalism; and the health and well-being of key populations at high risk for HIV and trauma including sex workers, drug users, orphans, and other highly vulnerable children.” [1]

Beard, from 2010-2014, was the principal investigator for the Ghana Operations Research for Key Populations project in collaboration with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the Ghana AIDS Commission, and USAID. [1]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Africa</span>

HIV/AIDS originated in the early 20th century and has become a major public health concern and cause of death in many countries. AIDS rates vary significantly between countries, with the majority of cases concentrated in Southern Africa. Although the continent is home to about 15.2 percent of the world's population, more than two-thirds of the total population infected worldwide – approximately 35 million people – were Africans, of whom around 1 million have already died. Eastern and Southern Africa alone accounted for an estimate of 60 percent of all people living with HIV and 100 percent of all AIDS deaths in 2011. The countries of Eastern and Southern Africa are most affected, leading to raised death rates and lowered life expectancy among adults between the ages of 20 and 49 by about twenty years. Furthermore, life expectancy in many parts of Africa is declining, largely as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with life-expectancy in some countries reaching as low as thirty-nine years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS</span> Pandemic of HIV/AIDS

The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS had killed approximately 40.4 million people, and approximately 39 million people were infected with HIV globally. Of these, 29.8 million people (75%) are receiving antiretroviral treatment. There were about 630,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2022. The 2015 Global Burden of Disease Study estimated that the global incidence of HIV infection peaked in 1997 at 3.3 million per year. Global incidence fell rapidly from 1997 to 2005, to about 2.6 million per year. Incidence of HIV has continued to fall, decreasing by 23% from 2010 to 2020, with progress dominated by decreases in Eastern Africa and Southern Africa. As of 2023, there are about 1.3 million new infections of HIV per year globally.

HIV is recognized as a health concern in Pakistan with the number of cases growing. Moderately high drug use and lack of acceptance that non-marital sex is common in the society have allowed the HIV epidemic to take hold in Pakistan, mainly among injecting drug users (IDU), male, female and transvestite sex workers as well as the repatriated migrant workers. HIV infection can lead to AIDS that may become a major health issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston University School of Public Health</span> Graduate school at Boston University

Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1976, the School offers master's- and doctoral-level programs in public health. It is located in the heart of Boston University's Medical Campus in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The school has more than 8,900 alumni, 267 faculty, and 227 staff; its students hail from more than 43 countries, and its total research portfolio is worth more than $180 million.

Ian McKnight is an HIV/AIDS activist from Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Russia</span> Situation around HIV/AIDS in Russia

The situation with the spread of HIV/AIDS in Russia is described by some researchers as an epidemic. The first cases of human immunodeficiency virus infection were recorded in the USSR in 1985-1987. Patient zero is officially considered to be a military interpreter who worked in Tanzania in the early 1980s and was infected by a local man during sexual contact. After 1988—1989 Elista HIV outbreak, the disease became known to the general public and the first AIDS centers were established. In 1995-1996, the virus spread among injecting drug users (IDUs) and soon expanded throughout the country. By 2006, HIV had spread beyond the vulnerable IDU group, endangering their heterosexual partners and potentially the entire population.

Since the first HIV/AIDS case in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) was identified in 1990, the number of infections has continued to grow. In 2005, UNAIDS estimated that 3,700 people in Lao PDR were living with HIV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Ghana</span> HIV Virus in Ghana

Like other countries worldwide, HIV/AIDS is present in Ghana. As of 2014, an estimated 150,000 people infected with the virus. HIV prevalence is at 1.37 percent in 2014 and is highest in the Eastern Region of Ghana and lowest in the northern regions of the country. In response to the epidemic, the government has established the Ghana AIDS Commission which coordinates efforts amongst NGO's, international organizations and other parties to support the education about and treatment of aids throughout Ghana and alleviating HIV/AIDS issues in Ghana.

With less than 0.1 percent of the population estimated to be HIV-positive, Bangladesh is a low HIV-prevalence country.

Since HIV/AIDS was first reported in Thailand in 1984, 1,115,415 adults had been infected as of 2008, with 585,830 having died since 1984. 532,522 Thais were living with HIV/AIDS in 2008. In 2009 the adult prevalence of HIV was 1.3%. As of 2016, Thailand had the highest prevalence of HIV in Southeast Asia at 1.1 percent, the 40th highest prevalence of 109 nations.

With less than 1 percent of the population estimated to be HIV-positive, Egypt is a low-HIV-prevalence country. However, between the years 2006 and 2011, HIV prevalence rates in Egypt increased tenfold. Until 2011, the average number of new cases of HIV in Egypt was 400 per year, but in 2012 and 2013, it increased to about 600 new cases, and in 2014, it reached 880 new cases per year. According to 2016 statistics from UNAIDS, there are about 11,000 people currently living with HIV in Egypt. The Ministry of Health and Population reported in 2020 over 13,000 Egyptians are living with HIV/AIDS. However, unsafe behaviors among most-at-risk populations and limited condom usage among the general population place Egypt at risk of a broader epidemic.

HIV prevention refers to practices that aim to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV prevention practices may be undertaken by individuals to protect their own health and the health of those in their community, or may be instituted by governments and community-based organizations as public health policies.

Humanitarian Action is a non-governmental charitable organization based in St. Petersburg, Russia. Humanitarian Action carries out programs and outreach for HIV/AIDS prevention, and aiding street children, intravenous drug users, and sex workers. The program, founded in June 2001, grew out of the French NGO Doctors of the World, which created medical-social programs in Russia starting in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandro Galea</span> American epidemiologist

Sandro Galea is a physician, epidemiologist, and author. He is the Robert A. Knox professor and dean at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is the former Chair of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Galea is past president of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and an elected member of the American Epidemiological Society. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2012, chairing two of the organization's reports on mental health in the military. He formerly served as chair of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Community Services Board and as a member of its Health Board.

Many women have been infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. The majority of HIV/AIDS cases in women are directly influenced by high-risk sexual activities, injectional drug use, the spread of medical misinformation, and the lack of adequate reproductive health resources in the United States. Women of color, LGBT women, homeless women, women in the sex trade, and women intravenous drug users are at a high-risk for contracting the HIV/AIDS virus. In an article published by the Annual Review of Sociology, Celeste Watkins Hayes, an American sociologist, scholar, and professor wrote, "Women are more likely to be forced into survival-focused behaviors such as transactional sex for money, housing, protection, employment, and other basic needs; power-imbalanced relationships with older men; and other partnerings in which they cannot dictate the terms of condom use, monogamy, or HIV." The largest motivator to become part of the sex trade was addiction, the second largest being basic needs, and the third was to support their children/family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swarup Sarkar</span> Indian epidemiologist, public health professional and diplomat

Swarup Sarkar is an Indian epidemiologist, public health professional and diplomat known for his work in the field of Infectious Diseases and HIV/AIDS in particular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nahid Bhadelia</span> Indian-American infectious diseases physician and researcher

Nahid Bhadelia is an American infectious-diseases physician, founding director of Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research (CEID) at Boston University and an associate professor at the Boston University School of Medicine. She served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Global COVID-19 Response on the White House COVID-19 Response Team.

George Richard Seage III was an American epidemiologist and a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Director of the school's Program in the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases. Seage specialized in HIV/AIDS research with a focus on “the behavioural and biological aspects of adult and pediatric HIV transmission, natural history and treatment.” At the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), Seage was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology, Director of the Interdisciplinary Concentration in the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, and Director of the Pediatric AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) data and analysis center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frits van Griensven</span> Dutch public health scientist and epidemiologist

Godefridus Johannes Petrus "Frits" van Griensven is a pioneering Dutch scientist in epidemiology, sociology and public health. Most of his work is on addressing the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men and other HIV key populations.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Jennifer Beard". School of Public Health. Boston University. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  2. Grant, Geena (November 21, 2019). "Pulitzer Center Global Health Reporting Fellowship bridges the gap between public health and journalism". The Daily Free Press. Retrieved 15 March 2021.