I cried listening to Dr. Tonia Poteat’s CROI 2016 plenary presentation in February, HIV in Transgender Populations: Charted and Uncharted Waters. A few times, actually. I could barely believe—after being left out for so long—that transgender men were finally being recognized and highlighted as an important population for scientists to include in future HIV research.
I began a passionate quest to advocate for the inclusion of trans men in HIV prevention studies exactly one year ago at last year’s CROI (one of the biggest annual HIV research conferences in the U.S.). There I learned that trans men who have sex with men (MSM) had been excluded from every clinical efficacy trial of PrEP (which is still true to date). Since that time, I have made it my mission to speak up for the inclusion of underrepresented populations in HIV research, and to do my part to overhaul the systems that have caused this, and other, scientific injustices to occur.
Read more of Brandyn’s new article on the BETA Blog.
