San Francisco AIDS Foundation Podcast

In our latest podcast episode we discuss social and public health reforms that could save money and lives in the global battle to prevent HIV and AIDS with Judith Auerbach, Ph.D., the foundation’s vice president for Science and Public Policy. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. To listen to our podcast on your computer or mp3 player, download this episode of the SFAF Podcast. If you need podcast help or would like to subscribe...

In this episode, Foundation CEO Mark Cloutier reflects on the forward progress of the Foundation in 2009 and talks about what’s ahead for 2010. Mark speaks to the impacts of the economic downturn in California, the growing evidence around the efficacy of "test and treat" programs and reaching more people with opt-out testing. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. To listen to our podcast on your computer or mp3 player, download this episode of...

In this exerpt from the Foundation's latest HIVision Forum, panelists, Imani Woods and Grant Colfax, explore the philosophy and misunderstanding around harm reduction, the tangible results they’ve seen from programs that operate from a harm reduction premise and the capacity of those programs to bring positive change to people's lives. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Harm reduction refers to any practice designed to decrease negative consequences of high-risk behavior. Unlike abstinence-only thinking, harm...

In this episode Ernest Hopkins, the Foundation's Director of Federal Affairs, talks about the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act. On the eve of the White House signing ceremony, Ernest reveals the importance of providing life-sustaining care for people living with HIV and AIDS through Ryan White as health care reform makes its way through Congress. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Ernest Hopkins is responsible for implementing the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's...

Recent results from a study trial in Thailand provide the first glimpse of hope that we may someday have a vaccine that protects people from HIV infection. In this episode, Mitchell Warren, Executive Director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, reviews these new scientific findings with the Foundation's Erik Ireland and explains what the results mean…and what they don't. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Mitchell Warren is the Executive Director of AVAC, an...

The Foundation partners with many organizations to reduce new HIV infections and increase access to care for people living with HIV. In this episode, Dana Van Gorder, Executive Director of Project Inform, discusses HIV treatment as HIV prevention, PrEP and the importance of the National HIV/AIDS Treatment and Information Hotline. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Dana Van Gorder is the Executive Director of Project Inform, a national non-profit agency assisting in the development...

One of the least understood areas of HIV research is the ongoing hunt for a vaccine to prevent infection. In this episode, Jen Sarché of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, answers questions about the 505 Study, a new HIV vaccine trial being conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network at the National Institutes of Health. San Francisco is one of ten nationwide sites for the 505 Study, designed to increase our understanding of the T-cell's response to infection....

In this episode, Steve Gibson, director of Magnet, the Foundation's gay men's health center in the Castro, discusses his upcoming presentation at the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference. Magnet is on the forefront of RNA testing for HIV in a community setting, helping locate cases of acute HIV infection among gay men in San Francisco and moving the Foundation closer to a goal of having every San Francisco resident between the ages of 13 and 65 know their current HIV...

In an effort to balance the budget, Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed all state funding for HIV prevention. In this episode, Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, Legislative and Policy Associate for the Foundation gives us an update on all of the governor's latest HIV budget cuts and what's being done to reverse them.

In this episode Dale Gluth, the HIV Counseling Testing & Linkages Manager at Magnet, discusses sexual harm reduction and how it factors into a comprehensive strategy for combating new HIV infections in San Francisco. Located in the heart of San Francisco's Castro district, Magnet offers free sexual health services including HIV and STD testing for gay and bisexual men. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Magnet, developed by community leaders and activists, provides sexually...

In this episode Ernest Hopkins, the Foundation's Director of Federal Affairs, talks about the Obama administration's progress on the National AIDS Strategy, the recent White House reception with LGBT leaders on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and the progress being made toward lifting the US ban on HIV-positive foreign travelers. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Ernest Hopkins is responsible for implementing the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's federal policy advocacy agenda. He...

HIV/AIDS services in California narrowly escaped draconian cuts in the first budget the governor sent to the State legislature. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation and peer organizations all over the State went to work immediately to fight cuts to prevention, HIV testing, surveillance and treatment for more than 35,000 Californians. In this episode of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation podcast, Peter Taback shares details of the current budget compromise and reminds us that basic advocacy tools are still effective. Get...

In this episode, a discussion about the revised California state budget with Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, the Foundation's Legislative and Policy Associate. Governor Schwarzenegger's current buget revision cuts all state funding for HIV prevention and education. Find out what effects this may have and what can be done to help restore the funding. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Courtney Mulhern-Pearson is responsible for monitoring, analysis and advocacy on a range of HIV-related public policy initiatives...

In this episode, we'll hear an edited excerpt from our recent HIVision forum entitled “Is HIV Treatment HIV Prevention?” An audience member asked our panel about possible disparities in access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). We'll hear Dr. Robert Grant's answer explaining the relationship between biomedical HIV prevention and issues of social justice and stigma. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. HIVision is an ongoing forum series bringing research and evidence to bear on timely...

In this episode, a discussion with Moupali Das-Douglas, M.D., M.P.H. She is the Director of the Research Unit of the HIV Prevention Section at the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Diseases at UCSF. We'll be talking about her research on community HIV viral load and why just getting people on HIV meds isn't enough. Even in San Francisco, health disparities often related to factors including...

In this episode, a discussion with Reilly O'Neal, editor of BETA, the Foundation's Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS. Recent studies offer evidence and raise questions about the role of antiretroviral medications in curbing the spread of HIV. Questions such as "Are HIV-positive people who take antiretroviral drugs less likely to transmit the virus?" Find out what's being done to answer these questions and the relationship between HIV treatment and HIV prevention. Get the Flash Player to listen to our...

In this episode, Dr. Bob Grant, Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF and an investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, discusses the PrEP Initiative study. These trials are trying to determine whether HIV medications given to HIV negative people at higher risk of infection will help reduce the amount new infections. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Dr. Grant will be a speaker at our HIVision forum in San Francisco on...

In this episode, Dr. Marsha Martin, the Director of Get Screened Oakland, discusses why everyone should get an HIV test. Nationally, one in four people who are HIV positive do not know it. One of the strategic goals of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation is to have every San Francisco resident between 13 to 64 know their current HIV status by 2015. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Dr. Marsha Martin was the architect...

In this episode, a discussion with Dr. Jae Sevelius, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. Dr. Sevelius recently completed a study on transgender men who have sex with men which sheds light on high-risk behaviors in a community that is difficult to reach. We'll talk about why we may see a rise in HIV prevalence among these men in the near future and what can be done to prevent it. For additional information, read...

In this episode, Courtney Mulhearn-Pearson, the Foundation's Policy and Legislative Associate, explains about how California's current phlebotomy laws may be hampering efforts to increase HIV testing in the state and what the Foundation is doing to help to change this. In 1999, California required anyone doing finger-prick blood testing to obtain a limited phlebotomy certificate. Get the Flash Player to listen to our podcast in your browser. Courtney Mulhern-Pearson is responsible for monitoring, analysis and advocacy on a range of...