Patrick S. Sullivan, PhD, DVM, professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health was recently appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). Council members are composed of a diverse group of 24 researchers, service providers, and community leaders from around the country.  Sullivan was sworn in at the 59th Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS Meeting in Washington, DC.

PACHA provides advice, information, and recommendations to the President through the Secretary of Health and Human Services on domestic and global HIV/AIDS policy issues. PACHA also serves to further the policy goals of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) and plays an important role in providing input for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

"This is a highly prestigious accomplishment," says James Curran, MD, MPH and James W. Curran dean of the Rollins School of Public Health. “It is also a testament to the fact that Dr. Sullivan is revered as an expert in the HIV community. His research contributions and research advancements are invaluable to the field. He is highly deserving of this tremendous honor."

Sullivan has over 20 years of experience in HIV epidemiology, prevention and behavioral surveillance in the United States and in international settings. He worked in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 12 years, including service as a Branch Chief and Acting Deputy Division Director in the Division of HIV AIDS Prevention. He also has experience in design and oversight of biomedical prevention trials, having served as the Associate Director of Scientific Support for the NIH-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network. He is the principal scientist of AIDSVu.org, an online mapping resource for HIV surveillance and related data.

He is currently the principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health-supported research grants to explain black/white disparities in HIV treatment outcomes among men having sex with men (MSM), to develop mobile apps to increase uptake of HIV prevention services by MSM, and to pilot an HIV prevention package for MSM in South Africa. He also serves as co-director of the Emory CFAR's Prevention Sciences Core.