Baltimore HIV/AIDS Scholars

The Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research launched the Baltimore HIV/AIDS Scholars Program in 2013 with the goal of identifying, recruiting, and training underrepresented minority undergraduate students at Johns Hopkins University. The program offers training opportunities for undergraduate students with an emphasis on ethnic minority populations and individuals underrepresented in health professions who are interested in HIV/AIDS research each summer. Since 2013 the program has enrolled 72 students, 58 of whom are students underrepresented in health professions. This program falls under the pipeline program portfolio of the CFAR and aims to increase the diversity of individuals in academic careers related to HIV/AIDS.

As of 2021, the Baltimore HIV/AIDS Scholars Program has joined forces with Generation Tomorrow, a school-year based HIV and HCV education and outreach program, and Generation Tomorrow: Summer Health Disparity Scholars, a summer program of the CFAR focused on undergraduates from across the country, and will launch a curriculum focused on HIV and HCV health disparities and their intersection with substance use (addiction and overdose), violence, mental health, and the social determinants of health. The program will offer mentorship and training in HIV/HCV education, testing, and counseling, health disparities, cultural competence, and harm reduction. The participants will also engage in community outreach with STAR.

The program consists of the following components:

1. HIV and HCV testing and counseling training
2. Weekly lecture series
3. Health disparities related research (clinical, health services, biomedical)
4. HIV and/or HCV community outreach