Some weeks remind you just how many different spaces public health can take you.

I spent several full days at the 2026 U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) in Anaheim, California, talking about some of the issues at the center of my work: HIV prevention, PrEP, sexual health, and the experiences of Black women. Then, just a few days later, I found myself in Washington, DC, joining a meeting of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Talk about a week.

Showing Up at USCHA 2026

USCHA has always been more than a conference. It is one of the spaces where researchers, advocates, community leaders, people with lived experience, health professionals, and policymakers come together around the present and future of the HIV response.

This year, I had the opportunity to contribute to that conversation in several different ways.

I kicked off the conference joining Malachi Stewart and Dr. Brittany M. Williams on The Playbook. If you have followed any of us lately, you already know the three of us have affectionately become DC3. 😂

I also participated in three sessions throughout the conference:

Centering Young Black & Latina Women in HIV Prevention & Reproductive Justice, with Destiny Pearson

When a Sexologist & Infectious Disease Researcher Walk Into a Room: Reimagining Sexual Health Conversations for Black Women, with MeYonna SwaVaye

All We Got Is We and Us: Black Women and the Fight for PrEP, with Dr. Brittany M. Williams

While each conversation approached the work differently, a common thread ran through all three: Black women deserve to be centered in conversations about our sexual health, HIV prevention, reproductive health, and the policies and systems that shape our lives.

Not simply included. Centered.

That distinction matters.

From USCHA to the White House

After several days in Anaheim, I returned to the DMV and, on Tuesday, joined a meeting of the White House Initiative on HBCUs.

A special shoutout goes to my girl Phylicia Cross, MPH, who invited me and brought me along. Our #40Under40 family continues to show up for one another in some pretty incredible spaces.

Walking into that room as both a Spelman woman and a Morgan-made doctor meant something to me.

My HBCU experience has shaped how I understand leadership, scholarship, service, and community. It has also shaped how I approach public health, particularly my commitment to ensuring that communities are not treated simply as populations to be studied or served, but as partners whose knowledge and experiences should shape the work.

Different Rooms. Connected Work.

At first glance, a national HIV conference and a White House meeting focused on HBCUs may seem like two completely different spaces.

For me, they are deeply connected.

My work has always lived at the intersection of public health, infectious disease, sexual health, health equity, education, community engagement, and leadership. Whether I am talking about PrEP with Black women, teaching future public health leaders, collaborating with community partners, or sitting in a room focused on the future of HBCUs, the question underneath my work remains remarkably consistent:

Who gets to be in the room, whose expertise is valued, and whose voice helps shape what happens next?

From community spaces to conference stages to the White House, I continue to be reminded that our voices belong in these rooms.

And I plan to keep using mine. 💕