Dr. Amy Nunn

Dr. Amy Nunn is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brown Medical School. She holds a secondary appointment in Behavioral and Social Sciences at the Brown University School of Public Health. She is also the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute (RIPHI). She currently conducts HIV and HCV prevention research related to health disparities and HIV/AIDS and HCV, HIV and HCV testing, sexual networks, and how to best link people living with HCV and/or HIV/AIDS to treatment and care services.

Dr. Nunn is best known for her innovative community partnerships to address disparities, including engaging clergy and community leaders in HIV testing, treatment and social marketing campaigns. In 2012, she established a comprehensive, neighborhood-based HIV and HCV prevention and treatment program called "Do One Thing." Do One Thing responds to unmet needs for testing and treatment in a Philadelphia neighborhood with high rates of HIV and HCV infection. In 2011, she founded Philly Faith in Action, a coalition of clergy in Philadelphia, PA who work collaboratively to reduce racial disparities in HIV infection. In 2013, Dr. Nunn expanded her work with clergy by establishing Mississippi Faith in Action, a similar coalition based in the heart of the Bible Belt in Jackson, Mississippi.

RIPHI's mission is to promote community health and to eliminate health disparities in Rhode Island and beyond. The Institute partners with Brown University and the Rhode Island Department of Health to develop innovative public health programs, conduct translational and policy research, and train students and public health practitioners.

A social scientist by training, Dr. Nunn has worked in several countries and conducted domestic and international research on a variety of health topics, including HIV/AIDS, access to reproductive health services, and family planning. Dr. Nunn has also conducted global health policy research that explores how politics, economics and intellectual property rights affect AIDS policy and access to medicines in developing countries. She is the author of the book "The Politics and History of AIDS Treatment in Brazil," whose foreword was written by Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, and which was published in 2009 by Springer. She has also written numerous peer-reviewed articles about Brazil's AIDS treatment program.

She has received research grants from Harvard University, the US Departments of Defense and Education, the Rhode Island Foundation, the MAC AIDS Fund, Gilead Sciences, and the National Institutes of Health. She received the "Outstanding New Researcher Award" at the 2009 CDC HIV Prevention Conference and an NIH Career Development Award in 2010. Dr. Nunn holds masters and doctoral degrees from the Harvard School of Public Health and is a former Fulbright Scholar. She speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese.