Q&A with Danielle Houston: BTAN Fellow appointed to DHHS ARV Guideline Panel
Soon health care professionals who don’t specialize in HIV/AIDS will be offered a helpful list of guidelines to follow, as provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents.
A working group within the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council, the panel has been tasked to help identify tangible ways to increase demand for treatment for impacted populations, as well as integrate biomedical and behavioral interventions, among other objectives.
Recently the Black AIDS Institute sat down with Danielle Houston, one of the group’s two new community members as well as its co-chair, to discuss the role she’ll play in helping craft the upcoming “Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents.”
Houston, who is a member of the Black Treatment Advocates Network, works as a public health specialist at Legacy Community Health Services in Houston. There she is responsible for advancing health literacy around HIV science, treatment and research, and helping people with HIV live longer, healthier lives.
Will you please describe the work you do on panel and the importance of the pending guidelines?
I am expected to assist in the development and revision of the guidelines for using antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected adults and adolescents. Each member must stay abreast of the most current scientific findings though medical journals and conferences, as well as safety information disseminated by drug manufacturers or the Food and Drug Administration. We must also identify new information that may warrant updates in the guidelines.
