The Dr. John Lamont Peterson Annual Research Symposium

The annual Dr. John Lamont Peterson Annual Research Symposium is the culminating event for participants in the Student Opportunities for AIDS/HIV Research (SOAR) program. The symposium features a keynote, and presentations by SOAR scholars who share findings from their behavioral and social science research related to HIV and/or sexual and gender minority populations. 

This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Jallicia A. Jolly, an Assistant Professor in American Studies and Black Studies at Amherst College. Dr. Jolly researches and teaches on Black women’s health, grassroots activism, and reproductive justice; the transnational politics of gender, structural racism, sexuality, class, and health; intersectionality and HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and Caribbean; Black feminist health science, Black motherhood, and birth justice. 

This symposium is free and open to the public. Portions of the symposium will be streamed on Zoom. 

Watch the livestream: https://umich.zoom.us/j/98130016986

Read the symposium program (PDF)

Symposium Schedule:

9:00 am: Registration, check-in, & coffee

9:30 am: Welcome Remarks by SOAR co-directors Gary Harper & Anna Kirkland*

10:00 am: Lightning Talks on HIV Research & Policy by SOAR senior scholars*

• Eamonn McGonigle
• Myla Lyons
• Noelle Harris
• Holly Gurnik
• Jasmine Mumpfield

11:00 am: Keynote*

• Dr. Jallicia Jolly, "HIV/AIDS in Ethnographic Perspective: Black Women, Bodily Autonomy, & Reproductive Justice"

12:00 pm: Lunch (registration required by 4/11)

12:45 - 1:45 pm: Poster Session on HIV-related research by SOAR junior scholars

• Isabella Bonnewit
• Ava Burzycki
• Feaven Gebrezgi
• Hadas Kluger
• Maddy Ligon
• Kaitlene Poblete
• Anita Shubert

2:00 pm: Lightning Talks on HIV Research & Policy by SOAR senior scholars*

• Adrian Beyer
• Niah Boyd
• Joshua Kennedy
• Rakira Urquhart
• Evan Hall

3:00 pm: Mentor Recognition & Graduation Celebration*

4:00 - 5:00 pm: Reception 

(*livestreams available)

About John Lamont Peterson:

Dr. John Lamont Peterson (1949-2021) was a leading figure in early HIV/AIDS research and a mentor to many Black behavioral and social scientists. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1974. After teaching at Claremont’s McKenna College and Graduate School in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and realizing the growing impact of the early AIDS epidemic on African American men, Dr. Peterson joined the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) at the University of California, San Francisco, where he served as a Research Scientist from 1986 to 1993. In 1994 he joined Georgia State University’s Department of Psychology, first as an associate professor, then as a full professor from 2003 until his retirement in 2015. Over the course of his career, he contributed to understanding the predictors of HIV/AIDS risk reduction, the effects of behavioral interventions to reduce this risk behavior, and the social determinants of racial disparities in HIV infection, primarily among Black men who have sex with men. Dr. Peterson’s mentorship to many laid the foundation for the ever-expanding field of HIV research and advocacy. This event is named in his honor.

About SOAR:

SOAR is a two-year intensive academic and research mentoring experience that aims to prepare students for graduate education and eventual research careers in behavioral and social science research on HIV/AIDS, with a focus on sexual and gender minority communities. SOAR is funded by a five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR). The program is administered out of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, in collaboration with the School of Public Health, School of Nursing, School of Social Work, and College of Literature Science & the Arts.