Awardee

Bernice McCoy, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida and serves as the Associate Director of Social Emergency Medicine at Tampa General Hospital. As a medical anthropologist and public health scholar with emerging expertise in implementation science, Dr. McCoy has advanced community-informed, equity-centered approaches to HIV, hepatitis C, and substance use prevention and care over the past 13 years. Her work centers on dismantling structural barriers to health through harm reduction, evidence-based practice, and community-engaged research with populations who use drugs, racial and ethnic minorities, and other marginalized communities. Dr. McCoy leads and co-investigates multiple federally and foundation-funded initiatives, including the T-SHARP randomized controlled trial integrating telehealth and harm reduction for people with HIV who inject drugs, and the Revolutionary Access to PrEP in the ED (RAPID) Project, which is developing a pioneering emergency department-based PrEP program at Tampa General Hospital. She has been instrumental in implementing routine opt-out HIV/HCV screening protocols, expanding syringe service programs, and developing syndemicinformed models of integrated care that co-locate HIV, mental health, and substance use services. Her translational research has resulted in peer-reviewed publications examining structural determinants of health, low-barrier care models, and culturally responsive interventions that have shaped practice across Florida. Currently serving as Vice-Chair of the Ryan White Care Council and Co-Director of the Miami CFAR Substance Use and Harm Reduction Scientific Working Group, Dr. McCoy contributes to state and regional HIV strategic planning while advancing implementation science methodologies that prioritize health equity and sustainable systems change.