In 2008, the National Association of People with AIDS launched this observance day on Sept 27 to recognize the disproportionate impact of the epidemic on gay men. Health care providers are key to ensuring continued access to critical HIV testing and PrEP services.

HIV Nexus is a CDC resource page and one-stop location for information across the HIV prevention and care continuum, including up-to-date tools and guidelines for your practice and educational materials for patients. Information on health issues relevant to men who have sex with men (MSM) and other members of the LGBTQ+ community are updated in real time.

LaRon E. Nelson, PhD, RN, FNP, FNAP, FNYAM, FAAN

(he/him, they/them)

Associate Dean for Global Affairs & Planetary Health, Independence Foundation Professor

Yale University School of Nursing

Years as an ANAC member: 21

Global Committee member

What does National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day mean to you?

This is an important day of remembrance for me that signifies gay men’s refusal to allow the epidemic to dim our light and to highlight our contributions to the ongoing quest to stop the epidemic in communities around the world. It is also a reminder to me of all the gay men who succumbed to the virus, and of my responsibility as a nurse scientist and a gay man to use all the available tools to ensure that other gay men are informed about HIV and equipped to prevent its transmission and that we have access to treatment, high quality models of care and support that allow us to live our lives fully and freely.

What does ANAC mean to you?

To me, ANAC is a community that comes together to support each other to advance the caring for everyone impacted by HIV. It has also been a nurturing place where I was able to grow and learn. I would not be here were it not for a group of ANAC nurses (Mary Angerame, Mary Adams, Dorrie Paine, Patricia Coury-Doniger) in Rochester, NY who insisted that I attend a dinner meeting with them. The rest is history!

What’s your favorite aspect of ANAC membership?

I love the annual conference. It is still thrilling to gather and learn about the important work that ANAC members are doing all around the world. It never gets old. I look forward to it every single year!

We salute the many contributions Dr. Nelson has made to ANAC, nursing research and scholarship and to HIV prevention and stigma reduction. He is the former chair of the ANAC research committee and has mentored many ANAC members and students in HIV research. Dr. Nelson is a co-chair for HPTN 096, a large community randomized controlled trial of an integrated multi-level intervention to reduce HIV incidence among Black MSM in the southern United States. In Ghana, he leads an NIH trial testing the effect of a multi-level intersectional stigma reduction intervention to improve HIV self-testing among MSM.