HIVMA honors outstanding achievements in HIV clinical education and research with 2025 awards

The HIV Medicine Association is pleased to recognize four members during IDWeek 2025 for their contributions to advancing the field of HIV medicine.

“This year’s award winners have made tremendous contributions through their achievements in research, prevention, education and care,” said Colleen Kelley, MD, MPH, FIDSA, chair of HIVMA. “I’m honored to present these courageous and compassionate individuals with these awards and celebrate their unwavering commitment to elevating the quality of care and advancing research and equitable policies to end the HIV epidemic.”

Transformative Leader Award: Demetre C. Daskalakis, MD, MPH

The Transformative Leader Award recognizes HIVMA members who have transformed the field through significant achievement in HIV clinical care, provider education, research or advocacy. This year’s honoree is Demetre C. Daskalakis, MD, MPH.

Dr. Daskalakis has spent the past two decades performing groundbreaking work in HIV  prevention, from the front lines of clinical care and community outreach in New York City to the highest levels of public health leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House. A determined, principled advocate for LGBTQ health and health equity, he has consistently delivered innovative, data-driven and community-centered solutions in the face of public health challenges. 

When he began his career as an ID and HIV doctor in New York City in the early 2000s, Dr. Daskalakis transformed public health via a “status-neutral” approach to HIV prevention, emphasizing equity and inclusivity. He adapted this innovative approach to care at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he eventually served as incident commander during the measles outbreak of 2018-2019, through the first 10 months of the COVID-19 public health emergency and during other emergency responses.

As the leader of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of HIV Prevention, starting in late 2020, Dr. Daskalakis worked on the CDC COVID response, seeking to mitigate disparities both in COVID vaccine uptake and in developing interventions to end the HIV epidemic.

In 2022, Dr. Daskalakis was named deputy coordinator of the White House National Mpox Response. He led a tremendously successful response to the new threat, achieving a 99% reduction in cases and establishing groundbreaking syndemic response models.

Dr. Daskalakis became director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases in 2022, where he leveraged the lessons of previously successful health responses in focusing on respiratory disease control and vaccine equity. Resigning from CDC in August 2025, he took a principled and public stand for public health and science following the abrupt dismissal of CDC’s director by the Administration and alarming changes to CDC’s decision-making process for vaccine recommendations. 

HIVMA is proud to honor Dr. Daskalakis with the HIVMA Transformative Leader Award in recognition of his visionary and principled leadership, scientific rigor and unapologetic advocacy, which have indelibly shaped HIV care, prevention and policy.

Innovator Award: Rena Patel, MD, MPH, MPhil

The Innovator Award recognizes HIVMA members in early- or mid-career who have made outstanding and original contributions to HIV medicine in clinical care, provider education, research or advocacy. The 2025 recipient is Rena Patel, MD, MPH, MPhil.

Dr. Patel is a visionary physician-scientist who has made remarkable contributions to HIV medicine, including cutting-edge research and service that have directly impacted public health. Currently at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Patel previously served in positions at the University of California at San Francisco and the University of Washington.

Dr. Patel conducts community-engaged mixed methods research, using both qualitative and quantitative tools, in HIV, women’s health and health equity in the U.S., Kenya, South Africa and Botswana. Her research produced some of the earliest data on increased vulnerability to COVID-19 among people with HIV, which directly informed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prioritizing some people with HIV for COVID-19 vaccines when they first became available. Her group also published some of the first data supporting the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination among people with HIV, including in comparison to other immunocompromised patients, and went on to explore the social determinants of health influencing health outcomes among minoritized groups affected by HIV.

With an outstanding record of leadership and service, Dr. Patel serves as associate director for research at the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health and was the assistant director for the Minority Health and Health Equity Research Center. At UAB, she is expanding a community-based participatory research project from Seattle to Alabama, where her team implements community-based stigma reduction interventions to improve HIV testing among African immigrant and African American communities. She is also laying groundwork to utilize mobile vans with community-based organizations to conduct HIV testing and offer long-acting PrEP in rural and Black communities in Alabama.

HIVMA is pleased to honor Dr. Patel with the HIVMA Innovator Award for her novel and prolific research and outreach endeavors that have directly impacted public health and for her unwavering commitment to justice in HIV medicine. 

Adaora Adimora Citation Award: Anandi Sheth, MD, MSc, FIDSA, and Becky White, MD, MPH

The Adaora Adimora Citation Award honors the late Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH, FIDSA, a past chair of HIVMA and member of the IDSA Board of Directors, for her service, unwavering commitment and leadership in advancing health equity through research, education and advocacy. The award recognizes exemplary contributions or service to HIVMA as well as advancing efforts to end HIV as an epidemic, such as through social justice and public service. This year, HIVMA honors Anandi Sheth, MD, MSc, FIDSA, and Becky White, MD, MPH, with this award.

Dr. Sheth is a recognized leader in the field of HIV and women’s health with a solution-oriented mind and the ability to gather and translate empiric evidence into practical clinical and bedside solutions. She has developed care models that improve the health of people with HIV before, during and after pregnancy, while also championing equitable access to HIV prevention services in women’s health settings.

Dr. Sheth is a tenured professor and the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine. She previously served as associate vice chair for faculty development in the Department of Medicine, director of research operations at the Grady Ponce de Leon Center and associate director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research clinical core. At Grady, her leadership of the perinatal care coordination team brought together obstetricians, ID specialists, pediatricians, nurses and social workers to dramatically improve care delivery and health outcomes for pregnant people with HIV — a model that has informed care nationwide and contributed to the near elimination of perinatal HIV transmission in the system. She has built bridges between Emory faculty, family planning clinics and community organizations, resulting in the launch of a large, community-informed education and outreach initiative to expand access to HIV prevention services for women.

For her dedication to ending the HIV epidemic and her stalwart efforts to advance the health of women with HIV, HIVMA is pleased to honor Dr. Sheth with a 2025 HIVMA Adaora Adimora Citation Award.

Dr. White has dedicated her career to improving health care access and outcomes for people with HIV, especially those facing systemic barriers to healthy lives. As an HIV health service researcher with the University of North Carolina Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, an ID physician and educator at the UNC School of Medicine, and director of HIV services for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Division of Prisons, Dr. White is a fierce advocate for individuals with complex health care needs. She has led efforts to expand telehealth services for incarcerated individuals, ensure access to antiretroviral therapy and foster continuity of care during transitions back into the community. 

Dr. White’s research has described the association between the release of prisoners with HIV and the subsequent increase of their viral loads. Funded by NIH, she is designing a specialized intervention to address HIV prevention needs during re-entry to the community following incarceration, partnering with the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transitions program. 

Dr. White conducted the first randomized controlled trial of directly observed antiretroviral therapy versus self-administered antiretroviral therapy in a state prison system. She also helped to implement HIV opt-out screening in the North Carolina state prison system, HIV care retention programs and two women-focused HIV prevention studies. She is currently developing programs to link released individuals to community PrEP care.

HIVMA is pleased to honor Dr. White with a 2025 HIVMA Adaora Adimora Citation Award for her commitment to health equity, compelling research and leadership in spearheading successful efforts to transform care for individuals involved in the justice system.

About HIVMA
The HIV Medicine Association is a community of more than 6,000 health care professionals who advance a comprehensive and humane response to the HIV pandemic, informed by science and social justice. HIVMA works to increase access to health care services and coverage for people with HIV and populations heavily impacted by HIV and to foster a robust, diverse and culturally competent HIV workforce. HIVMA is part of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Visit hivma.org to learn more.