Roles:
- Assistant Professor, Department of Community-Public Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
- Former Fellow, Research Education Institute for Diverse Scholars (REIDS)
Contact:
Biography:
Dr. Jennifer Stewart's work focuses on community based, mixed methods approaches to HIV risk reduction in underserved populations. This work has focused primarily on engaging the African American church, a pivotal community based organization in the African American community, as a partner in development and implementation of HIV risk reduction interventions. Her research has revealed that despite historic and contemporary tensions around sexuality, innovative multi-level structural approaches can promote uptake of interventions that prevent HIV, promote HIV testing and linkage to care in African American churches and their surrounding communities. Dr. Stewart recently completed a multi church study focusing on promoting readiness in African American churches to incorporate HIV testing, linkage to care and treatment. This involved collaborations with over 200 pastors, church leaders and congregants in multiple churches. Dr. Stewart is currently funded to look at the factors supporting implementation of a church based HIV risk reduction intervention for young adult African American women. An additional study is ongoing looking at the role of social capital in protecting HIV acquisition among a cohort of African American women at risk.
