PrEP is a highly effective biomedical intervention that prevents HIV. Despite the established association between HIV risk and substance use, PrEP access as well as uptake and persistence among persons with substance use disorders remains low. To fully realize HIV prevention efforts across health systems, and as substance use/healthcare-seeking patterns evolve with COVID-19, person-centered PrEP service delivery needs to involve renewed and coordinated efforts involving substance use treatment providers. This webinar helped clinicians overcome PrEP implementation challenges, assess PrEP eligibility, and identify strategies for addressing side effect and adherence concerns. This webinar helped clinicians overcome PrEP implementation challenges, assess PrEP eligibility, and identify strategies for addressing side effect and adherence concerns.

Participants:
1. Examined national trends of PrEP use among different populations at risk for HIV, including persons with substance use disorders
2. Reviewed recent updates on new PrEP medications and dosing strategies, and discussed unique considerations that may arise when counseling persons with substance use disorders
3. Considered strategies for health centers to increase PrEP education, initiation, and persistence

Speaker information:
Parya Saberi, PharmD, MAS, AAHIVP, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and HIV Clinical Pharmacist. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and California HIV/AIDS Research Program, her current areas of research include remotely-conducted research, adapting technology-based strategies to challenge current models of healthcare, and improving HIV prevention and treatment strategies through social networking technologies and web-based tools. She is Principal Investigator of an NIH-funded project to improve HIV PrEP prescribing practices through technology-guided panel management strategies in primary care clinics across the San Francisco Department of Health.