During the September 20, 2023, meeting of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Rachel Levine, MD, welcomed and swore in 13 new Council members:

  • Philip Chan, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine, Brown University

  • Mackenzie Copley, Co-Founder & CEO, One Tent Health

  • Paul Kawata, MA, Executive Director, NMAC

  • Duvia Lozano, LMSW, Program Director, Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc.

  • Tiommi Luckett, National Organizer, Transgender Law Center

  • Jesse Milan, Jr., JD, President & CEO, AIDS United

  • Deondre Moore, Ambassador, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation

  • Natalie Sanchez, MPH, Director, UCLA Family AIDS Network

  • Patrick Sullivan, DVM, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

  • Marvell Terry II, Activist and Cultural Organizer, Founder, The Red Door Foundation and the Saving Ourselves Symposium

  • Hansel Tookes, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

  • Carol Treston, RN, MPH, Executive Director, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care

  • Dafina Ward, JD, Executive Director, Southern AIDS Coalition

PACHA provides advice, information, and recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding programs, policies, and research to promote effective prevention, treatment, and cure of HIV disease and AIDS. This includes recommendations to the Secretary regarding the development and implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative.

The Council may have up to 35 members, including the chair or co-chairs. Members and the chair(s) are selected by the Secretary of Health and Human Services from authorities with particular expertise in, or knowledge of, matters concerning HIV and AIDS. Council members are invited to serve for overlapping terms of up to four years.

“The new PACHA members bring a rich variety of expertise and experience to the work of the Council, ensuring that the Council’s work honors the diversity of the HIV epidemic in the U.S.,” remarked Kaye Hayes, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infectious Disease and Executive Director of PACHA. “We look forward to the contributions they will make to PACHA’s work.”

Learn more about the each of the new members on the PACHA Members & Staff page on HIV.gov.

Departing PACHA members Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS

Departing PACHA members Gregg Alton, Ada Stewart, Justin Smith, and John Sapero with certificates of appreciation for their service presented at the 9/20/23 PACHA meetingCourtesy of HIV.gov

Council Bids Farewell to Seven Members

During the same meeting, PACHA expressed appreciation to seven members whose terms were expiring:

  • Gregg Alton, JD

  • Marc Meachem, MBA, Head, External Affairs, ViiV Healthcare North America

  • Rafaelé Narváez, Co-Founder and Director of Health Programs, Latinos Salud

  • Michael Saag, MD, Associate Dean, Global Health, School of Medicine and Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Director, UAB Center for AIDS Research

  • John Sapero, MIL, Director, Ending the HIV Epidemic, Collaborative Research LLC

  • Justin Smith, MS, MPH, Director, Campaign to End AIDS, Positive Impact Health Centers

  • Ada Stewart, RPh, MD, Lead Provider and HIV Specialist, Cooperative Health

“As ADM Levine shared during her remarks at the meeting, we are grateful for the outstanding insight and advice that these members have provided to us over the past four years,” Ms. Hayes observed.

HHS Seeking Applications for PACHA Members

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health is seeking nominations for membership on PACHA. Nominations for membership on PACHA must be received no later than 8:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday, January 5, 2024. View this Federal Register Notice for details.

This blog post was originally published September 27, 2023, on HIV.gov.