AAHU Fellow Marxavian Jones: 'Nothing About Us Without Us'

Marxavian Jones (center) a 2016 AAHU graduate, he is flanked by Jeffrey Klausner, M.D. (left), Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and the Program in Global Health, UCLA; and Phill Wilson, Founder and C.E.O., Black AIDS Institute.

One in a series about recent graduates of the African American HIV University (AAHU).

Marxavian Jones, 29, completed AAHU last May, but he still reviews his notes and presentations on a weekly basis. "I loved the program. I have never learned so much and was actually able to retain all of it," he says. "The coursework was interesting, challenging and fulfilling. It felt like graduate school all over again."

Jones, who has been working in HIV education and prevention since 2010, first heard about AAHU from a former Fellow, but it wasn't until he talked about the training to Black AIDS Institute President and CEO Phill Wilson at a Morehouse College forum on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States: Updated to 2020 (pdf) that he decided to apply. He was certain that AAHU would enhance his skills and knowledge about the complexities of HIV.

And it definitely did. "I have expanded my interests to include research and helping communities of color combat mistrust developed by historical events. In order for us to continuously advance science, we must conduct research," Jones says. "We are tired of programs being tailored for us without our input. I am a firm believer that there should be nothing about us without us."

Jones—who received his master's degree in public administration, with a concentration in health care, at Auburn University at Montgomery—is a senior research interviewer at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, where he oversees the implementation of a newly awarded four-year grant to research engagement in care among young Black gay men living in Atlanta, a population whose incidence of HIV is alarmingly high. (An Emory University study followed a group of 18- to 39-year-old Atlanta-area MSM for 24 months and found that 12.1 percent of the black men under 25 contracted HIV, compared with only 1 percent of the white men under 25.)

"When it comes down to the research side of engagement and care, not many researchers have looked into the impact of the social bonds that individuals make with people who are sharing the same experiences," explains Jones. "We wanted to find out what would happen if we brought a group of young gay men living with HIV together to work on a community project. Do the bonds that these men form or the social aspects make them more likely to take their medications or take better care of themselves if they have the support of their peers?"

Jones applies vital tools, like networking and collaborating, that he learned from his AAHU training to his role at Emory and credits the program for shifting his outlook, improving his work ethic and changing his life.

"The AAHU program saved my passion for this work. I had become so complacent being a good outreach worker or a knowledgeable facilitator that I was not pushing myself," Jones admits. "AAHU was one of the most challenging things I have completed since graduate school, and my brain needed that kick."

Previously, Jones was an MSM engagement coordinator at National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities, where his responsibilities included training, staff development, advocacy and STI testing. His other work experiences in HIV/AIDS include being a program coordinator for Medical AIDS Outreach of Alabama. He first took an interest in HIV/AIDS as a sophomore at Jackson State University, when he participated in a play about a young man with HIV.

Jones is thankful for his AAHU experience. "The relationships that I built at AAHU remain today, and they are just as important as any of the information I received."

Excited about the future, he sees himself continuing to work in the trenches fighting HIV/AIDS. "Five years from now, I will still be doing the work and growing professionally to the point where I can impact change without the assistance of a job or governmental funds," says Jones. "I aspire to be in the position to bless others, and I am more than certain that it shall come to pass."

LaShieka Hunter is a freelance writer and editor based on Long Island, N.Y.