SFAF.org Podcast #36 - Dr. Judith Auerbach on the nexus of behavioral and biomedical HIV prevention

Dr. Judith Auerbach, Deputy Executive Director for Science and Public Policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, discusses behavioral interventions for reducing HIV risk and transmission and the Foundation's newest publication, the HIV Evidence Report. The first issue of this report outlines ten effective behavioral HIV interventions, but many questions about the future of behavioral HIV interventions still remain.

SFAF.org Podcast #35 - AIDS/LifeCycle fights HIV by creating awareness and health

As 3,000 riders and volunteer "roadies" made their way to Los Angeles, AIDS/LifeCycle 7 increased awareness about HIV and AIDS.  Peter Lavoie, one of the Co-Chairs of the Positive Pedalers, talks about how AIDS/LifeCycle builds knowledge about HIV and improves health for both HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants. The Positive Pedalers are a group of HIV-positive AIDS/LifeCycle participants, volunteers and staff committed to eliminating stigma through their positive public example.

SFAF.org Podcast #34 - Tom Kennedy on the current state of HIV vaccine trials

In this episode, Tom Kennedy, a public health educator who has been working in HIV prevention in San Francisco since 1992, discusses the current state of HIV vaccine trials. Last autumn, the STEP HIV vaccine trial was halted due to safety concerns. With delays now affecting the launch of new vaccine trials, Tom answers questions about the state of HIV vaccine research and what is being done to ensure the safety of trial participants.

SFAF.org Podcast #33 - Racism & homophobia influence HIV testing and treatment among Black gay men

In this episode you'll hear an excerpt from our May 15th HIVision forum, What's Going On: HIV and Black Gay Men. Panelist Dr. David Malebranche answers a question about HIV testing among Black men with an illuminating portrait of the racism and homophobia Black gay men may encounter when seeking medical attention.

SFAF.org Podcast #32 - Ernest Hopkins on government response to the rising HIV transmission rate among Black MSM

In this episode, Ernest Hopkins, the Foundation's Director of Federal Affairs, discusses the local and federal response to rising HIV transmission rates among Black men who have sex with men. Ernest Hopkins will be a panelist at our May 15th HIVision Forum entitled What's Going On: HIV and Black Gay Men.

SFAF.org Podcast #31 - Dr. David Malebranche on the rising HIV transmission rate among Black gay men

Dr. David Malebranche, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University's School of Medicine and a member of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, discusses HIV and Black gay men. Though it has been demonstrated that HIV risk behaviors in the Black men who have sex with men (MSM) community are often less risky than those of the MSM community in general, the HIV transmission rate in Black gay men continues to rise. Dr. Malebranche will be a panelist at our May 15th HIVision Forum entitled What's Going On: HIV and Black Gay Men.

SFAF.org Podcast #30 - Dr. Judith Auerbach on current HIV microbicide research

Dr. Judith Auerbach, Deputy Executive Director for Science and Public Policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, discusses findings revealed at the recent International Microbicides Conference in New Delhi, India. After a few disappointing setbacks, current microbicide research and trials are beginning to yield results that may lead to another effective HIV prevention tool.

SFAF.org Podcast #29 - Study shows San Francisco MSM syphilis rates declining

Dr. Kyle Bernstein, Chief of Epidemiology, Surveillance and Research for STD Prevention and Control Services at the San Francisco Department of Health, discusses a recent preliminary report showing a decline in the rate of syphilis transmission among men who have sex with men in San Francisco. As syphilis rates continue to climb in many other US cities, find out what San Francisco is doing to achieve these declining rates.

SFAF Podcast #28 - Magnet fights HIV and builds a healthy gay community in the Castro

In this episode we'll hear from Steve Gibson, the Director of Magnet, a health and community center for gay men in the Castro. Magnet was created in 2003 by members of the Castro's gay community as a response to rising rates of HIV and STD transmission. Find out how this San Francisco AIDS Foundation program helps fight HIV with a holistic approach to health and community building.

SFAF Podcast #27 - Black Brothers Esteem fights HIV with a community-based program

In this episode Tony Bradford, Program Manager for Black Brothers Esteem, discusses the Foundation's community-based program to empower gay and bisexual African-American men who live in the Tenderloin/Polk Gulch and Sixth Street Corridor neighborhoods of San Francisco. In addition to providing HIV prevention and support to a community disproportionately vulnerable to HIV infection, Black Brothers Esteem addresses issues affecting program participants' overall health such as racism, addiction, poverty, homophobia, violence, and marginal housing conditions.

SFAF Podcast #26 - California budget cuts and pending HIV legislation: what's at stake?

In this episode, Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, Policy Analyst for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, outlines the possible effects of proposed California state budget cuts and pending state HIV legislation. Faced with a structural deficit of more than 14 billion dollars, Governor Schwarzenegger has presented a state budget with ten percent cuts across the board.

SFAF Podcast #25 - Dr. Lisa Sterman on MRSA staph infection in the SF gay community

In this episode, Dr. Lisa Sterman discusses MRSA staph infection in the San Francisco gay community. Though MRSA has been around for years, a recent study in the journal The Annals of Internal Medicine has framed it in a new light.  What should everyone know about MRSA?  Are gay men more susceptible to infection?  What's sex got to do with it?

SFAF Podcast #23 - The Year in Review with Mark Cloutier

In this episode, Mark Cloutier, Executive Director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and President of Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, discusses a year of lessons learned in the fight against HIV and opportunities that lie ahead in 2008 to review and revise approaches to prevention and care, and improve popular understanding of HIV and AIDS.

SFAF Podcast #22 - Dr. Judith Auerbach Challenges the Definition of Evidence-Based HIV Prevention

In this episode Dr. Judith Auerbach, Deputy Executive Director for Science and Public Policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation talks defining the meaning of evidence in relation to evidence-based HIV prevention.

SFAF Podcast #21 - Dr. Nancy Padian on Empowering Women to Fight HIV

In this episode Dr. Nancy Padian, Director of the UCSF Women's Global Health Imperative and Senior Director for Prevention at Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation shares some of what she's learned from conducting HIV prevention research around the world. She'll be a panelist on our upcoming November 29th World AIDS Day forum entitled HIVision: From Local Knowledge to Global Solutions.

SFAF Podcast #20 - Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa on Bridging the Technology Gap to Fight HIV

In this episode, Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa, Vice President of Global Affairs and Global Projects Specialist at Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation outlines the role of technology in the global fight against HIV. Dr. Rudasingwa will be the moderator for our upcoming November 29th World AIDS Day forum entitled HIV Vision, From Local Knowledge to Global Solutions.

SFAF Podcast #19 - The Next Steps Toward HIV Prevention in Prisons and Jails

In this episode you'll hear an excerpt from our October 11th forum, HIVision: Preventing HIV in Prisons and Jails. Panelists answer an audience question about what must be done to stop an explosion of HIV in U.S. prisons and jails. Today, only 6 jurisdictions provide HIV prevention information or materials to inmates.

SFAF Podcast #18 - Innovative HIV Prevention in San Francisco County Jails

In this episode, Kate Monico Klein, the director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Forensic AIDS Project, discusses HIV prevention in San Francisco county jails.  In the late 1980s, the Forensic AIDS Project began distributing condoms to prisoners and today, remains one of only six such programs in the nation.

SFAF Podcast #17 - Mary Sylla Confronts the Issues Surrounding HIV Prevention in Prisons and Jails

Mary Sylla, Policy & Advocacy Director at the Center for Health Justice, discusses the current status of HIV prevention in prisons and jails and answers some of the questions surrounding this controversial topic. The Center for Health Justice is co-sponsoring the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's upcoming HIVision forum, Preventing HIV in Prisons and Jails. Ms. Sylla will moderate the October 11th event.

SFAF Podcast #14 - HIV Microbicides: A Science and Public Policy Update

In this episode, we'll get the latest information about research on microbicides — chemical compounds now in development — that may help prevent HIV transmission.  Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, a policy analyst in the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's Department of Science and Public Policy explains that although there are no HIV microbicides approved for use in humans, research may soon yield another effective tool for HIV prevention.

SFAF Podcast #13 - Fighting HIV in Mexican Migrant Communities

Jorge Zepeda, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's Director of Latino Programs, talks about preventing and treating HIV in Mexican migrant communities in the US and Mexico. HIV infection rates in rural Mexico are on the rise, due in part to migrant workers returning home from the US with undiagnosed HIV.

SFAF Podcast #12 - Experts discuss serosorting as a possible prevention strategy at SFAF HIVision forum.

In this episode, we've excerpted a ten-minute conversation on serosorting from our recent forum, Exploring What's Positive in Gay Men's Health. This was the first of three HIVision fora the AIDS Foundation will convene this year bringing research and evidence to bear on timely policy and program issues, providing a safe venue to engage community discussion on potentially controversial topics.

For more information, including an audio recording of the recent forum which will be available after July 17th, visit http://www.sfaf.org/hivision/.

SFAF Podcast #11 - Dr. Judith Auerbach and Dr. Steven Tierney on the Upcoming HIVision Forum on Gay Men's Health

Dr. Judith Auerbach, Deputy Executive Director for Science and Public Policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Dr. Steven Tierney, the AIDS Foundation's Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Services, discuss our upcoming HIVision forum, Exploring What's Positive in Gay Men's Health. The forum on July 10th will be the first in a series of three HIVision forums the AIDS Foundation will convene this year to gather experts and the community together to explore ideas and options for fighting HIV.

SFAF Podcast #10 - Mark Cloutier on Improving Gay Men's Health to Fight HIV

This episode concludes our four-part series on gay men's health. Mark Cloutier, Executive Director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, discusses the AIDS Foundation's commitment to improving gay men's health as a way of reducing new HIV infections and helping HIV positive men live longer, healthier lives.

SFAF Podcast #9 - Crystal Meth and Gay Men's Health with Michael Siever from The Stonewall Project

This is the third episode in our four-part series on gay men's health. Michael Siever, Director of the Stonewall Project, a harm reduction program for gay and bisexual men, illustrates the dangerous links between crystal meth, sex and HIV transmission.  The Stonewall Project and Magnet, a gay men's community health center in the Castro, will join the AIDS Foundation on July 1. In the fourth episode of this series, AIDS Foundation Executive Director Mark Cloutier will discuss the Foundation's commitment to gay men's health and ways we can build a healthier community.

SFAF Podcast #8 - Anal Sex and Gay Men's Health with Steven Gibson from Magnet

This is the second episode in our four-part series on gay men's health. Steven Gibson, Director of Magnet, a gay men's community health center in the Castro, discusses safer anal sex and gay men's health. The AIDS Foundation recently announced that Magnet and the Stonewall Project will join the Foundation on July 1. In our next episode, we'll discuss substance use and gay men's health with Michael Siever, Director of the Stonewall Project.

SFAF Podcast #7 - Dr. Steven Tierney on Oral Sex and Gay Men's Health

This episode is the first in a four-part series on gay men's health. Dr. Steven Tierney, Deputy Executive Director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, discusses oral sex and its relationship to gay men's health. In upcoming episodes, we'll hear from two of our newest partners, the directors of Stonewall Project and Magnet, two established community health programs that serve gay men in San Francisco. We wrap up the series in late June just before San Francisco Gay Pride by talking with SFAF Executive Director Mark Cloutier about the Foundation's commitment to gay men's health.

SFAF Podcast #6 - Ernest Hopkins on Pending National HIV Legislation

In this episode of the SFAF Podcast, Ernest Hopkins, Director of Federal Affairs for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, discusses Senator Gordon Smith's Early Treatment for HIV Act and Representative Barbara Lee's proposed amendment to remove the "abstinence before marriage" earmark from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

SFAF Podcast #5 - Dr. Judith Auerbach on Combining the Latest Behavioral and Biomedical HIV Prevention Strategies

In this episode, Dr. Judith Auerbach, Deputy Executive Director for Science and Public Policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, discusses the latest research on behavioral interventions to prevent HIV and illustrates a new combined biomedical/behavioral approach to decrease infection rates.

SFAF Podcast #4 - Mark Cloutier on the Closing of San Francisco's Office of AIDS

In this episode of the SFAF Podcast, Mark Cloutier, Executive Director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and President of the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, talks about the impending closure of the San Francisco municipal Office of AIDS and what challenges and opportunities may lie ahead as HIV/AIDS services become more integrated into the public health system.

SFAF Podcast - Episode 3 - HIV/AIDS and African-American health: A spiritual connection?

In the third episode of the SFAF Podcast, William Bland, Director of Community Programs for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, talks about the connections between spirituality and health in the African-American LGBT community, which is disproportionately affected by HIV. Demonstrating that faith-based programs can be implemented outside of "faith-based institutions," Bland and the Black Brothers Esteem program are innovating integrated approaches to building community and individual health.

You can read about the story behind the BBE Life of Hope Spirituality Forum or get more information about the event at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation web site.

SFAF Podcast - Episode 2 - Dana Van Gorder illustrates how the new California meth prevention fund may help fight HIV.

In our second episode, Erik Ireland speaks with Dana Van Gorder, Director of State & Local Affairs for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, about the new California methamphetamine abuse prevention fund and plans for a statewide campaign to deter meth use. Data show a significant relationship between meth use and HIV risk among a range of population groups, including gay men.

Van Gorder develops and monitors legislation and budgets in Sacramento and San Francisco that impact HIV/AIDS programs.  He has served as the Coordinator of Lesbian & Gay Health Services for the San Francisco Department of Public Health and is a founder of the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center Project.

SFAF Podcast - Episode One - Ernest Hopkins explains how Ryan White changes will affect SF and the nation.

We're proud to be sharing this link to the first episode of the new San Francisco AIDS Foundation podcast. Now you can get concise biweekly updates on current HIV/AIDS topics from our experts in policy, treatment and prevention. You'll get your questions answered by the people closest to issues surrounding HIV/AIDS in a short program that you can listen to anytime at your computer or on your personal music player.

In our first episode, Ernest Hopkins, Director of Federal Affairs for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, talks about the recent changes to the Ryan White CARE Act and how they may affect AIDS services in San Francisco and nationwide. Mr. Hopkins is responsible for implementing the agency's federal policy advocacy agenda.  He is a well known HIV/AIDS advocate and was instrumental in the passage of the current Ryan White CARE Act.