Heather Boerner
Heather Boerner is an award-winning journalist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition to contributing regularly to TheBody and TheBodyPro, Heather's work has appeared in NPR, PBS NewsHour, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and more. In 2016, she won the Best Coverage of HIV award from the Association of LGBTQIA Journalists.
Latest by Heather Boerner
Making Clinical Trials of PrEP More Inclusive of Women, No Matter Their Pregnancy Status
Three new trials of HIV prevention drugs seek to answer directly a question that researchers inside and outside the field of HIV have explicitly avoided for years: How do drugs work -- and are they safe -- in pregnant and breastfeeding women?
PrEP as Integrated Care: Removing Barriers, Addressing Real Needs
When it comes to getting PrEP to more than just white, cisgender gay men, real talk is essential, according to Darrianne Martin, HIV prevention manager with AltaMed, an L.A.-based health center that serves primarily a Latinx population.
PrEP Works in Young Men -- But They Might Need Help to Ensure They Take It
Truvada is effective for preventing HIV transmission in teenagers, but high rates of non-adherence mean that the answer for youth HIV risk can't just be biomedical, according to study findings released this month.
Trust Gay Men: IPERGAY Finds Zero New Infections, Even With Infrequent Sex
It turns out that you can trust gay men at high risk for HIV to take care of their health -- even if they have to remember to take an HIV prevention pill before sex.
CDC Corrects Misleading HIV Conception Guidance, Responding to Community Pressure
The CDC is now "in line with current science and supports a patient-centered approach," said Shannon Weber, M.S.W., which can mean "accessible safer-conception options for thousands of Americans living and loving with HIV."
'Stop Describing, Start Intervening': Can the CDC's New Viral Load Data Help Guide HIV Programs?
"Overall, we saw improvements for the whole population, suggesting that the efforts to test [and] diagnose HIV infection sooner, start [antiretroviral] treatment earlier and help patients be retained in care and adherent to their treatment are workin...
Harnessing Vaginal Microbiota to Protect Women From HIV: What We Know and Don't Know
If you're a provider, you want to offer patients the latest, evidence-based ways to reduce their risk for HIV -- including women who may have increased risk because of the microbes in their genital tracts.
The Company You Keep: Do Social Networks Influence HIV Status?
Social networks are a big part of life and offer a community of support. But could they also play a role in HIV status?
Confronting Implicit Bias to Transform Sexual Health and Medical Care
A new provider training centralizes the lived experiences of black gay and bisexual men, and transgender people. Heather Boerner takes an in-depth look.
'We Have Work Before Us, People': HIV Nurses Meet, Mourn and Prepare to Fight in Wake of U.S. Election
The annual meeting of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care began right after Donald Trump's election as U.S president. Despite fears of funding cuts and mounting stigma, the HIV providers vowed to speak up and stay strong.