Ashley Townes

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC · Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Surveillance and Epidemiology

OBJECTIVE To estimate the number of women who received human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services by race and ethnicity in seven THRIVE (Targeted Highly Effective Interventions to Reverse the HIV Epidemic)–funded jurisdictions and to estimate associations of a...

In 2021, there were an estimated 153 500 persons aged at least 13 years with undiagnosed HIV infection. Estimated rates among Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and White persons were used to assess disparity trends from 2017 to 2021. Rates decreased across two absolute and relative disparity measures. Despite these declines, Black and Hispan...

Abstract Historically, Black sexuality has been depicted through a risk-based lens rather than a sex-positive lens. This study analyzed data from a subset of 540 Black heterosexual adolescents and adults who participated in the 2018 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. Masturbation, penile-vaginal intercourse, and oral sex were the most p...

Few studies investigating daily oral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) focus on transgender persons. The Sustainable Health Center Implementation PrEP Pilot (SHIPP) Study included a large observational cohort of transgender persons with implications for PrEP in the United States. We examined data from SHIPP’s observational cohort and its Medication Ad...

Objective Research underscores the importance of providers having routine discussions with patients about their sexual health. We examined the occurrences and association of routine sexual health discussion practices and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) clinical care among primary care providers (PCPs) in areas with high HIV prevalence. Methods...

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective in preventing new HIV infection, but uptake remains challenging among Black and Hispanic/Latino persons. The purpose of this review was to understand how studies have used electronic telecommunication technology to increase awareness, uptake, adherence, and persistence in PrEP care among Black and...

The purpose of the current study was to explore pleasure mapping among (N=215) Black women living in the South using Black Feminist Thought and Cite Black Women critical praxis. Participants identified 78 activities that were most pleasurable. There were nine distinct themes of activities including oral sex, foreplay, clitoral and combined stimulat...

HIV testing is a critical component of effective HIV prevention and care. CDC recommends routine opt-out HIV testing in health care settings for all sexually active persons aged 13-64 years at least once in their lifetime and risk-based testing regardless of age for those who report behaviors associated with HIV acquisition (1). However, recent stu...

Racial and geographical disparities exist in HIV infections in the USA. The highest burden of HIV diagnoses remains among Black/African American persons and is concentrated in the Southern region. This paper describes within-race changes in HIV diagnoses among heterosexually active Black/African American persons in seven states with the highest rat...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of sexual behaviors and experiences of Black women's partnered behaviors at their most recent sexual event. Data were from a subset of 980 Black women ages 18 to 92 who participated in the 2018 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. Findings provide a sex-positive view of Black women...

Research dedicated to understanding the sexual experiences of Black women has historically been framed around adverse outcomes. There are limited data that can be used to understand the lived experiences of Black women related to sexual health care. Twenty-five Black women aged 18- 35 from across nine US states were interviewed to gain insight into...

Background In the United States, efforts to achieve health equity and reduce sexual health disparities remain a national priority; however, limited research has focused on understanding racial differences in patient/provider discussions about sexual health. Aim To quantify racial differences between black and white women (aged 18–49 years) in the...

This lesson plan is designed to help participants learn how to partner with their healthcare providers to improve their sexual health. This lesson plan describes how to achieve this goal with cis-gender Black adolescent girls and adult women (ages 16 and older).

This lesson plan is designed to help students understand and debunk myths and stereotypes about African American/Black women and their sexual lives. This lesson plan is intended for adult learners.

Introduction: Although much research has examined correlates of pain during sex, far less research has examined why women have sex despite having pain and why they avoid telling their partner. Aim: The purpose of our study was to examine women's reports of painful sex, including location of pain, whether they told their partner, factors associat...

Objective: To understand how missing data may influence conclusions drawn from campus sexual assault surveys. Methods: We systematically reviewed 40 surveys from 2010–2016. We constructed a pseudo-population of the total population targeted across schools, creating records proportional to the respective response rate and reported sexual assault pre...

Objective To examine whether investments made in public health research align with the health burdens experienced by white and black Americans. Methods In this cross-sectional study of all deaths in the United States in 2015, we compared the distribution of potential years of life lost (PYLL) across 39 causes of death by race and identified key di...

Search strings used to identify number of publications and number of R01 grants for each of 31 specific causes of death. (DOCX)

SAS code used to produce the results of study analysis. (SAS)

The one-year lagged relationship between the number of potential years of life lost (PYLL) due to 31 causes of US deaths in 2014 and (a) the number of journal articles written about the cause of death in 2015 and (b) the number of NIH funded R01 grants about the cause of death in 2015, stratified by black and white race. Solid black line shows pred...

Public health investments aim to improve health of all people. Hence it is important to assess whether public health investments accurately reflect the public health burden for both white and black Americans. We used potential years of life lost (PYLL) to examine if the investments made in public health funding, publications, and training align wit...

Key Points · The Assistance for Substance Abuse Prevention Center, established by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, has worked with community partners in the faith community to prevent alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse. · Reviving the Human Spirit (RTHS) was a collaborative project that provided resources to help congregations provid...