Positively Aware magazine hosts its second in a series of webinars, “Healthy Living with HIV,” on July 13th at 12pm ET/ 11am CT. Join us along with experts in exercise, food justice, mental health and stress reduction and learn about tools that can help you and the people you care about live a healthier and happier life with HIV. Featured presenters include Margaret Danilovich, PT, DPT, PhD, Northwestern University; Nelson Vergel, author/activist/entrepreneur, and Evelyn Figueroa, MD, Figueroa Wu Family Foundation. See more information about our presenters below.
When: July 13, 2021 12pm ET / 11am CT / 10am MT / 9am PT
Topic: Healthy Living with HIV
Register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join.
Made possible through support from EMD Serono.
Nelson Vergel
Nelson Vergel is a 35+ years long term HIV and cancer survivor, author, lecturer and leading health advocate. He holds a chemical engineering degree from McGill University in Montreal and an MBA from the University of Houston. He is the founder of the non-profits Program for Wellness Restoration and The Body Positive Wellness Center. He is also an expert on TheBody.com on aging with HIV, lipodystrophy, hormone deficiencies and multidrug resistance. He is a co-founder of the AIDS Treatment Activist Coalition (ATAC) and successfully led efforts to convince the FDA and pharmaceutical companies to enable HIV+ people with limited treatment options to simultaneously access multiple investigational agents. He served as a member of the DHHS HIV Adult Guidelines Committee for 4 years with a special focus on treatment of advanced patients and side effect management. He is now focused on advocating for research options for the immunological non-responder population whose CD4 cell count has not normalized after successful HIV viral control. Nelson has published several publications on HIV wasting, health, and hormone replacement.
Evelyn Figueroa, MD
Evelyn Figueroa is a champion for health equity and works to transform her environment from one that is biomedical to a more biopsychosocial one. Her favorite instructional areas are bias in healthcare, social determinants of health, reproductive health, and LGBTQ* health.
In addition to acting as an executive co-director for the Figueroa Wu Family Foundation, Dr. Figueroa lovingly cares for patients at UI Health at the Maxwell Street family medicine clinic and at the hospital (including delivering babies!) since 2005. In addition, she serves on the Board of Directors for Lincoln Park Community Services and the Society of Teachers Family Medicine Foundation (her professional teaching organization).
For her advocacy and educational efforts, Dr. Figueroa has been the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2012 Illinois Academy of Family Medicine Teacher of the Year, a 2014 UIC-COM Rising Star faculty award, the 2015 UIC-COM Team Member Servant Leadership & Social Justice Awards, the 2017 Health and Medicine Policy Research Group’s Medicine Award, the 2019 STFM President’s Award, Gold Humanism Honor Society Faculty Induction, and the 2020 UIC Chancellor’s COVID Response Award. In 2020, Dr. Figueroa was selected as a “Notable Healthcare Hero” in Crain’s Chicago Business, “Mask Hero” in Chicago Health Magazine, and Paul Harris Rotary International Fellow.
Dr. Figueroa underwent family medicine specialty training at Lutheran General Hospital and has practiced full-spectrum inpatient and outpatient family medicine since 1999, including vulnerable population care such as reproductive health, maternity care, and culturally-responsive, affirming healthcare. Prior to joining the teaching faculty at UIC, Dr. Figueroa worked in Oakland, CA at the Department of Maternal Child Health at Alameda County Medical Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center.
Margaret Danilovich, PT, DPT, PhD
Margaret Danilovich is the senior director of the Leonard Schanfield Research Institute at CJE SeniorLife and an adjunct assistant professor at Northwestern University, where she directs the dual degree Master of Public Health and Doctor of Physical Therapy program. A physical therapist by background, she has practiced her entire career with older adults. Her current research focuses on exercise interventions has been funded by the NIH, Retirement Research Foundation, and Third Coast Center for AIDS Research. She recently received a grant from the Administration for Community Living to deliver exercise programs for people aging with HIV.