The Pharmacist
Eric K. Farmer, PharmD, BCPS, AAHIVP is an HIV clinical pharmacist at the Indiana University Health LifeCare Clinic at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, one of the largest providers of HIV medical services in the state of Indiana. He was instrumental in starting formal clinical pharmacy services there in 2009. He provides pharmacy services that include medication adherence counseling and patient education, drug information services, medication procurement, medication therapy management, and medical care coordination services. He is on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of HIV Medicine and serves as clinical faculty for the Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center. Dr. Farmer graduated from Butler University with his Doctor of Pharmacy in 2007. He then completed an ASHP-accredited PGY1 pharmacy residency at Eskenazi Health (formerly Wishard Health Services) in Indianapolis, and subsequently an ASHP-accredited PGY2 HIV specialty pharmacy residency at the Center for HIV/AIDS Care and Research at Boston Medical Center.
The Doctor
Ross A. Slotten, MD, MPH, is a family physician who has treated people with HIV/AIDS since 1982. Dr. Slotten graduated from Northwestern University School of Medicine in 1981, completed his training in family medicine at St Joseph Hospital in Chicago in 1984, and received a master’s degree in public health from the University of Illinois in 1992. He has cared for more than 1,000 people with HIV, has participated in numerous studies related to HIV/AIDS, and remains in active clinical practice. He is currently affiliated with the Amita Health Group/St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago. He is the author of the upcoming memoir, Plague Years: A Doctor’s Journey through the AIDS Crisis, to be published by the University of Chicago Press this spring.
The Activist
Bridgette Picou has played a mix of roles along her life’s journey. Currently working as a licensed vocational nurse at Desert AIDS Project in Palm Springs, California, she is also an active HIV blogger, contributor to the CDC’s “Treatment Works” public service campaign, and is working towards several HIV ambassadorships. She is a mom, grandmother, friend, and nurse, each piece a part of the whole picture. Diagnosed with HIV at almost 40, she re-examined her life and found a new path, which is where nursing came in. It may have taken a while, but she believes nursing is what she was always meant to do. Working in the HIV field has given her a dual perspective on HIV, seeing it from both the patient’s and the provider’s standpoint. Whether providing balance, or as a light to those struggling at diagnosis, navigating survival is her motivation. Finding a voice in advocacy and activism is a natural progression, since she feels that every time she fights for someone else, she affirms her own life.
The Associate Editor
Enid Vázquez has been Associate Editor of Positively Aware ever since she joined the magazine in 1995. She earned her B.A. in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She interned at The Chicago Reporter and was a cub reporter for The Hartford Courant, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. Her freelance work has appeared in publications around the country. She became interested in health reporting because of the importance it has on people’s lives. It is a privilege to work on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS, Enid says. She believes that HIV is as a much condition fueled by societal discrimination as it is by a virus. As such, it makes her reporting socio-political as well as medical. She enjoys reporting on medical updates and making them relatable to readers’ lives. Enid has a special interest in sexual violence and sexual freedom, and in serving the sex trade worker and transgender communities.
The Educator
Carla Blieden, PharmD, MPH, AAHIVP completed her Doctor of Pharmacy, Master of Public Health, and PGY1 Residency at the University of Southern California. She is certified as an HIV pharmacist and has worked as the clinical pharmacist at the Maternal, Child, and Adolescent/Adult Center, a family-centered HIV clinic in Los Angeles, for over a decade. She works directly with patients focusing on adherence to HIV medication, managing other chronic diseases, and analyzing HIV medication resistance. Dr. Blieden is Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Director of Student Outreach and Community Health at the USC School of Pharmacy. She reviewed the DHHS guidelines for this guide.