Ending the HIV Epidemic: NCCC Clinical Webinar Series

Webinar Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Please join the National Clinician Consultation Center in partnership with the Health Resources and Services HIV/AIDS Bureau for this interactive. webinar for clinicians.

HIV Prevention has been identified as one of four key strategies to Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States. Health care providers play a critical role in preventing new HIV transmissions. Having timely and convenient access to specialist support can help providers feel more confident and comfortable exploring HIV prevention strategies with patients. The HRSA-funded National Clinician Consultation Center (NCCC) provides free, confidential, one-on-one teleconsultation to health care providers on key prevention tools, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP, a medication that effectively prevents HIV) as well as harm reduction approaches to help address HIV-associated risk behaviors. During this webinar, we will describe the NCCC and our approach to supporting clinicians with implementation and optimization of key HIV prevention strategies including PrEP and harm reduction. Based on real cases, we will review the nuts and bolts of HIV prevention and share ideas on overcoming clinical, informational, and cultural challenges in building prevention capacity. 

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the free clinical teleconsultation services available to health care providers through the National Clinician Consultation Center (NCCC)
2. Identify and proactively address barriers to implementing PrEP care
3. Discuss key clinical components of providing PrEP, including best practices in assessing HIV risk, initial and ongoing clinical monitoring, and supporting PrEP adherence and persistence

Speakers:

Cristina Gruta, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacist and HIV/hepatitis C specialist. She is a senior consultant for the NCCC’s HIV Warmline, PEPline, PrEPline, Perinatal HIV Hotline, and HCV Warmline. She also mentors new clinicians with a focus on best consultation practices. Dr. Gruta cares for BIPOC patients living with and at-risk for HIV at UCSF’s 360 Wellness Center where she works collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team to optimize drug therapy and healthcare outcomes. She obtained her PharmD at UCSF and completed residencies in pharmacy practice and HIV/AIDS.

Erin Lutes, MS, RN, PHN, CNS, is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with a specialty in public health and HIV. She has been an NCCC HIV prevention consultant since 2014 with a special interest in stigma and harm reduction. She graduated from UCSF’s Master’s Entry Program in Nursing and Master of Science program and worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health at Southeast Health Center’s HIV team and as a nurse in San Francisco-based primary care and urgent care clinics. Erin has also worked as Adjunct Faculty at Samuel Merritt University and as a clinical instructor for UCSF’s School of Nursing. She is a US Schweitzer Fellow for Life.

View the Webinar: