Assistant Professors Schenita D. Randolph and Ragan Johnson were interviewed by Daniel O'Conner for the TrialSite article "Duke University School of Nursing Investigators Embark on Innovative Community Study to Reduce Growing HIV Rates Among Black Women in the South." The interview was based on their research using a salon-based intervention to promote HIV prevention awareness to Black women in the southern U.S. region.

Excerpt

A Scary Situation Not Well Known 

As it turns out, although the African American population as a whole accounts for just under 14 percent of the U.S. population (and Black women represent 52% of this total for about 7 percent of the total U.S. population), face a far greater probability from HIV infection than any other demographic group. The southern region of the country for some complex reasons are the epicenter of this HIV crisis. 

The CDC reports that the region known as the South (see the map), although not near 52 percent of the American population, now accounts for 52 percent of all new HIV infections. A fact that few know, Black women now account for 69 percent of all new HIV infections in this large region of the country. A shocking number that certainly triggered the attention of TrialSite.

Founder and CEO Daniel O’Connor sought the interview with Dr. Randolph and Dr. Johnson to better understand what was going on in the southern parts of the United States, especially with Black women and the health systems. TrialSite believes that  this information should be shared with a broader audience; that this innovative research and community engagement model is not only important but necessary for an important intervention to help an at-risk population.