Agenda
Day 1: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
| 9:00 AM - 5: 00 PM | Pre-Conference Workshops Several organizations will host “Pre-Summit Workshops” in advance of NMAC’s 10th Annual Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit (BHPS), and these workshops are developed, hosted, and facilitated independently of NMAC. Links to register for these pre-summit workshops are forthcoming. |
| 8:45 am - 3:30 PM | Smarter HIV Prevention Unlocking the Power of AI. Organizer: PROCEED Inc. National Center for Training, Support and Technical Assistance (NCTSTA) Location: Clark, 4th Floor Download the Flyer Registration Link |
| 12:00 AM - 4:00 PM | FROM SURVIVING TO THRIVING: Leading the Next Era of Healthy Aging in HIV Care Organizer: Training & Health Equity Collaborative Location: Addison, 4th Floor Click to Register |
| 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Registration |
| 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Exhibit Hall Open (Closed During Opening Plenary) |
| 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm | Opening Plenary (7th Floor Ballroom) Leading with a Syndemic Approach to End HIV, Presented by NMAC Syndemics occur when two or more health conditions impact the same individuals and communities because of social and structural factors, leading to an excess burden of disease and continuing health disparities. HIV does not exist in a silo. A syndemic approach to ending HIV addresses the intersection of HIV, substance use, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and viral hepatitis, compounded by social determinants like racism, poverty, and housing instability. The opening plenary moves beyond focusing solely on HIV and focuses on holistic care that mitigates the combined effects of these interconnected health conditions and structural issues to improve overall community health. Joining this discussion is member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03). Congresswoman Ramirez is a vocal advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and minority health equity; and, as a member of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, she focuses on protecting funding for, and increasing access to, care, earning the 2025 Barbara Lee Courage in HIV Advocacy Award from NMAC. Featured Speakers: Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) Harold Phillips, MRP |
| 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm | Welcome Reception Location: Exhibit Hall, 5th Floor |
Day 2: Thursday, April 9, 2026
| 7:00 AM – 7:45 AM | AM Praise |
| 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall |
| 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM | Registration |
| 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM | Exhibit Hall Open (Closed during Plenary) |
| 9:00 AM – 10:30 PM | Session 1 Workshops
|
| 10:45 AM – 12:15 PM | Session 2 Workshops
|
| 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM | Luncheon Plenary: PrEP & the City: Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Prevention, Presented by Gilead |
| 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Dessert in Exhibit Hall |
| 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM | Session 3 Workshops
|
| 4:15 PM – 5:45 PM | Session 4 Workshops
|
| Affinity Sessions | |
| 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM | PrEP 2 Step Line Dance Location: Michigan/Michigan State, 6th Floor Hosted by Dexter Davis A high-energy session where HIV education meets movement and Community. Learn, connect and line dance together. ALL Line Dance Levels Are Welcome but You must be a Summit registrant to attend. |
| 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM |
House and Ballroom Community Stakeholders A conversation about engaging the House and Ballroom community more in HIV biomedical research Pharmacists United to End the Epidemic This Affinity Session highlights the evolving role of pharmacists in HIV care and emphasizes collaboration within the healthcare field. The event invites attendees to join a one-hour session on Thursday, April 9th from 6:00–7:00 PM, with a unifying message: “Together We Grow.” Aging and Thriving with HIV Discussing the mental, physical and emotional trauma of people with lived HIV experiences. KISS & Tell- Keeping It Safe is Sexy : Using Community Storytelling to Address Sexual & Reproductive Health Across the Lifespan for Black Women This affinity session offers a culturally affirming space for Black women to explore sexual and reproductive health across the lifespan through community storytelling. Centered on pleasure, safety, and autonomy, the session begins with a KISS & Tell mini-documentary featuring real stories from Black women. Following the screening, participants engage in a facilitated discussion on key life stages—from adolescence to post-menopause—examining how sociocultural factors shape sexual health experiences. Grounded in the Sexual Health Wheel, topics include consent, communication, HIV/STI prevention, reproductive justice, and positive sexuality. Voices from the South This Affinity Session is a great opportunity for us to connect with Southern conference attendees, learn more about their unique HIV prevention needs, and share what SAC has planned for the future From Lived Experience to Leadership: Thriving (Not Just Surviving) in the Peer Workforce This interactive affinity session centers Peer Navigators, Peer Recovery Specialists, and frontline peer workers within the HIV prevention workforce. Participants will explore the realities of peer roles, including burnout, role expansion, and emotional labor, while also identifying pathways for career growth and leadership. A key interactive component includes a “Many Hats” activity where facilitators use labeled hats as visual props to represent the multiple roles peer professionals take on (e.g., counselor, advocate, case manager, crisis responder). This hands-on approach fosters engagement, reflection, and dialogue about workload, identity, and sustainability. Through guided discussion and activities, attendees will develop strategies for sustainability, professional advancement, and peer-led support systems. |
Day 3: Friday April 10, 2026
| 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM | AM Praise |
| 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall |
| 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Exhibit Hall Open |
| 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Registration |
| 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Session 5 Workshops
|
| 10:45 AM – 12:15 PM | Session 6 Workshops
|
| 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM | NMAC Luncheon Plenary and PrEPpy AwardsSupporting and Strengthening HIV Workforce DevelopmentLocation: Grand Ballroom, 7th Floor Emcee: Ken Williams Moderators:
Panelists:
Communities of color remain hardest hit by HIV and closing that gap starts with strengthening the workforce that serves them. Even with powerful prevention and treatment tools, structural barriers keep too many people from accessing care. At the same time, burnout, low pay, and provider shortages are leaving critical roles—like community health workers, PrEP navigators, testers, and outreach teams—understaffed nationwide. The U.S. needs more than 1,500 additional HIV specialists, especially in the South. Building a diverse, well‑trained, and sustainable workforce is essential to ending the epidemic. Our panel will break down the challenges and share bold, practical strategies to rebuild and retain the HIV workforce that communities deserve. |
| 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM | Simulation Labs
|
| 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM | Community Connect Chicago Networking Event This is where the real conversations happen: an open bar, passed bites, and a room full of clinicians, public health leaders, researchers, and advocates who share your commitment to strengthening HIV prevention and care. April 10, 2026 |
iPosters
TRACK 1 – Systems Thinking & A Syndemic Response
- Stop the Connection
- Connecting Dots: A High-Touch Navigation Model for HIV Prevention Equity
- Standing on Business: THE PIVOT.
- Meeting People Where They Are: Urban FQHC Status Neutral Model
- Operationalizing a Syndemic Response Through Cross-Sector Care Coordination
- Transforming Provider Perspectives: Academic Detailing for Inclusive HIV Care
- Rapid HIV Care Linkage in a No-Cost Testing Setting
- Integrating FIB-4 Liver Fibrosis Screenings into HIV Care
- ACT-Informed Intervention to Strengthen PrEP Engagement
- Aging With HIV as a Syndemic Workforce Challenge
- SALUD MOVIL: Advancing Equitable HIV Care Through Community-Driven Telemedicine
- Bureaucratic Barriers to DoxyPEP Implementation in Public Health
- Developing Healthcare Provider- Focused Health Messages to support PrEP communication
- Implementing a Tiered Model to Improve Patient Engagement
- From ED Screening to Syndemic Prevention and Care Continuity
- LGBTQ-Centered Primary Care for Older Adults Living with HIV
- Initial Lessons from Implementing Lenacapavir PrEP at a Hospital-Based Clinic
- Ending the Epidemic: Viral Load Monitoring in Integrated Care Models
- A Scalable Pharmacist-Led Strategy for HIV Suppression
- Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to PrEP in Community Health Centers
- Empowering Client-Driven Community Resource Navigation Among People Who Use Drugs
- Building a Low-Barrier PrEP System in a Community Health Center
- Implementation and Scalability of a Centralized, Jurisdiction-Wide HIV Resource Hub
- A St. Louis Collaborative to Promote Self-HIV and STI Testing
- Church Food Distribution Low-Barrier Entry for HIV and HCV Care
- Evaluating linkage to Comprehensive Prevention Services among Hispanic Men
- Closing the PrEP Gap: Same-Visit Initiation in Emergency Departments
- Leading through Complexity: Preparing Early-Career Managers for Impactful HIV Prevention
- PeerPower Memphis: A Systems-Level, Peer-Delivered HIV Testing and Linkage Model
- Feasibility of Emergency Department Partner Referral for HIV Prevention
- Expanding HIV Self-Testing Through Cross-Sector Partnerships Background
TRACK 2 – Technology, Data & Innovation
- Why Telehealth was Built for the Syndemic Approach
- The OPEN Program: Scalable Online HIV Prevention Education
- Digital Innovations for Equitable HIV Care in Low-Resource Settings
- Implementing Pediatric Emergency Department HIV/Syphilis Screening to Improve HIV Prevention
- Data-Driven Influencer Outreach Improves PrEP Conversion Rates
- OSMe Buddy: Digital Resistance for Latine PrEP Equity
- When Availability Isn’t Access: How Programs Shape Who Gets PrEP
TRACK 3 – Health Outcome Determinants
- Addressing HIV and Homelessness in Metro Atlanta
- Social Drivers of Health Screening Among People with HIV
- Increasing PrEP uptake among Women of Color Using Groundbreaking Strategies
- HIV Care Gaps for Asylum Seekers During U.S. Immigration Processing
- Food Security and Cardiometabolic Risk Shape HIV Engagement and Suppression
- Integrated HIV Testing Outreach for Homeless Populations in Arizona
- Interest in Injectable PrEP among Migrant Women in France
- Using Peer Educators for HIV Prevention at HBCUs and MSIs
- Community Engagement: HIV Prevention among Black Women and Young Adults
- Welcome Home: A Multilayered Reentry Program for Justice-Involved PLWH
- Integrated Approach: Detection of HIV, Hepatitis C, and STIs
- Structural Support, Behavioral Impact: Early Insights from House of LOVE
- Ending the HIV Epidemic Through Health Outcome Determinants
- Strengthening HIV Care Amid Immigration Enforcement Surges in Waukegan, IL
- Understanding Prevention and Care Needs Among People Who Use Drugs
- Trusted Partnerships to Improve HIV Prevention and Care for Migrants
- Building Organizational Capacity to Address Social Drivers of HIV
- The Sibling-Familial Influence Model: A Framework for PrEP Engagement
- Engaging Siblings to Promote PrEP Uptake Among Latino MSM
- “Cuídate”: Sibling Support and PrEP Engagement Among Latino SMM
- Hidden Vulnerabilities: Intimate Partner Violence, Survival Sex, and HIV Risk
- Advancing Hispanic Population HIV Screening Through Status-Neutral Mobile Care
- Don’t Die High: Addressing Methamphetamine Use Among Black GBSGL Men
- HIV Prevention Continuum for Black Transgender Women: Opportunities for Impact
TRACK 4 – Health Equity & Policy Education
- Addressing Health Disparities: HIV & STI Prevention in Guam
- The Informed Decision Making Toolkit (IDT): Centering Reproductive Agency
- VOCES LATINAS: Guiding Health Equity Priorities in Complex Political Contexts
- Sexual Health Education as STI Prevention for Older Adults
- Approach to PrEP Outreach to Engage Migrant Women in France
- Regulatory Alignment in Integrated HIV–SUD Care
- Provider Feedback on Strategies for PrEP Uptake among Black Women
- Empowering Community Promotion of HIV Prevention & PrEP through Ballroom
- Mpox Awareness and Vaccine Uptake Among 2025 Palm Springs Pride
- Community Based Participatory Action Research: When Community Members Lead Research.
- What the PrEP?: Improving PrEP Access Across the Prairie State
- Connection to Care: Increasing LGBTQ+ Health Outcomes in HIV Care
TRACK 5 – Health Communication & Simulation Labs
- Researcher Identity and Trust Recruiting Black Women into HIV Prevention
- Brand Development Recommendations for Engaging Adolescents in HIV prevention
- KISS &TELL: Storytelling & Black Women’s Pleasure in HIV Prevention
- Bridging the Generational Divide: A Syndemic Simulation Lab
- Latinx Biomedical HIV Prevention Through Digital Storytelling
- Encouraging Protective Sexual Behaviors Among Adolescents in Alabama
- A Group Intervention to Prevent HIV in Black Women
- Social Network Strategies to Enhance HIV Testing Engagement
- Community-Designed Digital Messaging to Support PrEP Uptake
- Empowering HIV Prevention Providers Through Motivational Interviewing and Collaborative Communication
- Community-Led Development of Culturally Relevant PrEP Health Messages
- Shirts That Speak Up: Wearable Messaging for Sexual Health Communication
- Developing Healthcare Provider Focused vlogs to improve PrEP communication
- Amplifying Community Voices Through Vlogs :PrEP Awareness Among Black Women
- Developing, Testing of a PrEP Vlog Intervention for Black Women
- Vlog-Based Intervention to Support PrEP Awareness Among Healthcare Providers
Program
Affinity Sessions
An Affinity Session is an impromptu meeting of conference attendees who want to discuss a particular subject, gather to chat, or hold a Meet & Greet. Any Summit participant can avail themselves of an Affinity Session as a way to gather a group for a deeper discussion outside of the regular workshops.
Length
Affinity Sessions are for 1 hour and are offered from 6:00pm – 7:00pm on Thursday, April 9th.
Location
There are 12 workshop rooms of various sizes available for Affinity Sessions. Based on the size of your group, a room will be assigned to meet your discussion needs.
How to book an Affinity Session?
Contact Diane Ferguson, Conferences & Events Specialist, dferguson@nmac.org, by April 3, 2026.
Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit 2026
Join NMAC’s 10th Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit (BHPS) in Chicago, April 8-10, 2026.
The Summit was launched by NMAC in 2016 to advance PrEP access for communities most-impacted by HIV. We are the nation’s only convening dedicated to translating complex scientific discoveries and biomedical solutions into effective healthcare delivery for the HIV and public health workforce. This is the place where science meets action—translating cutting-edge research into real-world strategies for HIV prevention.
In its 10th year, the 2026 Summit is set to expand its focus by addressing HIV from a syndemic, whole-person perspective and is integrating the broader clinical and public health workforce (see audiences below). As we celebrate a decade of progress, we’re reimagining what’s possible. This is our moment to embrace a whole-person approach to prevention—because HIV does not exist in isolation, and neither should our solutions.
As part of this effort, NMAC is working with its 2026 Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit’s Program Planning Committee (see below) to curate and develop sessions for BHPS.
Theme
This year’s theme: The Syndemic Approach—Strengthening the HIV and Public Health Workforce centers the clinical, community, and broader public health workforce, as key partners in the domestic and global effort to improve overall health among HIV affected communities and communities with the poorest health outcomes.
Tracks
The agenda, featuring content in both English and Spanish, converges FIVE tracks centered around the theme “The Syndemic Approach—Strengthening the HIV and Public Health Workforce.”
NMAC is working with its 2026 Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit’s Program Planning Committee to curate and develop sessions for BHPS in alignment with the 5 tracks.
TRACK 1 – Systems Thinking & A Syndemic Response
Focuses on the interconnected syndemics impacting our communities. Sessions will cover integrated clinical care models for co-morbidities and non-clinical strategies for aligning community programs and funding.
Objectives:
- To build capacity in systems thinking and integrated care approaches by equipping clinical and non-clinical professionals to coordinate across programs, funding streams, and community systems to better respond to syndemics
- To strengthen the clinical and public health workforce’s ability to address interconnected health challenges
TRACK 2 – Technology, Data & Innovation
Highlights emerging technologies in HIV prevention. Sessions will explore data-driven clinical decision support and TelePrEP, alongside m-health/mobile health platforms and analytics for non-clinical outreach and program monitoring.
Objectives:
- To empower the clinical and public health workforce to harness emerging technologies and data tools that drive innovation in HIV prevention and care.
- To enhance participants’ technical skills in data-driven decision-making, TelePrEP implementation, m-health/mobile health platforms, and analytics for improving outreach, monitoring, and service delivery
TRACK 3 – Health Outcome Determinants
Examines the root social and structural factors impacting HIV risk. Sessions include clinical SDoH screening tools and navigation, plus non-clinical partnerships addressing housing, stigma, and economic stability.
Objectives:
- To build workforce capacity to understand and address the social and structural factors influencing HIV outcomes
- To train providers and community staff in SDoH screening, navigation, and cross-sector collaboration so the clinical and nonclinical workforce can mitigate barriers related to housing, stigma, and economic stability
TRACK 4 – Health Equity & Policy Education
Addresses health disparities and systemic barriers. Sessions focus on implementing culturally competent clinical care and developing non-clinical advocacy campaigns to advance health equity and influence legislative change.
Objectives:
- To prepare the workforce to advance health equity and policy change through culturally responsive care and education.
- To gain practical strategies for applying culturally competent care and developing advocacy initiatives that promote health equity and shape policy.
TRACK 5 – Health Communication & Simulation Labs
Develops skills in effective messaging and practice. Sessions features simulation labs for clinical scenarios like motivational interviewing, as well as workshops on creating non-clinical social marketing campaigns and status-neutral messaging.
Objectives:
- To develop the workforce’s communication, counseling, and engagement skills through interactive learning.
- To practice motivational interviewing and client-centered approaches, as well as how to design effective messaging, social marketing, and status-neutral communication strategies
Taking A “Syndemic” Approach
What is a syndemic? Simply put: Synergy + Epidemic = Syndemic
A public health term that refers to a situation where multiple health problems happen at the same time and interact with each other, making things worse for the people affected. These problems aren’t just biological—they’re also shaped by social, economic, and environmental factors like poverty, discrimination, or lack of access to healthcare.
For example, health conditions like HIV, sexually transmitted infections, substance use, and mental health issues don’t just exist separately, they overlap and worsen the combined outcome for the individual experiencing them together. These overlapping issues often hit certain communities harder, especially those facing social challenges like racism, unemployment, or housing instability.
Expanding Our Audiences
NMAC aims to expand participation among direct-care providers and frontline clinicians in community-based and rural settings. The Summit will engage professionals and organizations in clinical or adjacent roles, including:
- HIV/STI Testers
- PrEP Navigators
- Linkage coordinators
- Prescribers (MDs, DOs, NPs, PAs)
- Registered Nurses
- Pharmacists
- Social Workers
- Substance Use Counselors
- Mental Health Professionals
- Registered Dietitians and Nutritionists
- Community Health Workers
- Health Department Professionals
- Clinic Administrators
- Non-Profit Professionals
- Academic Researchers
- Medical Students
Contact
For information, updates, and questions about NMAC’s 2026 Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit, please email Conferences@NMAC.org
