Faculty Directory
Whitney Irie
Assistant professor
Whitney Irie
Contact
Email: whitney.irie@bc.edu
Education
- B.A., Pennsylvania State University
- M.S.W., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis
Research Interests
Community-driven solutions; critical health equity; Black women's sexual and reproductive health; implementation science for Black lives; structural evaluation and transformation; social and environmental Justice
Expertise
- Black Communities
- Social Determinants of Health
In The News
Porter, MJ. To Make Headway in the Fight Against HIV, We Have to Treat It Like Every Other Health Condition. The Body The HIV/AIDS Resource. May 2021. Online.
Porter, MJ. The CDC Is Updating PrEP Guidelines. Here’s Why I Wish These Updates Existed Sooner. The Body The HIV/AIDS Resource. June 2021. Online.
McFarling, UL. ‘Health equity tourists’: How white scholars are colonizing research on health disparities. STAT. September 2021. Online.
Boerner, H. Income May Be the Biggest Determinant of Whether Women Stay on PrEP. POZ. March 2022. Online.
Tingley, K. Why Are Sexually Transmitted Diseases Surging? The New York Times. May 2022. Online.
Biography
Dr. Irie joined the School of Social Work in 2022 after completing her NIH funded postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Population Medicine. Dr. Irie’s primary research focuses on equitable access and effective implementation of biomedical HIV prevention strategies such as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for Black Women in the United States. Her broader goal is to implement innovative solutions to complex problems at the environmental, structural, and social levels that improve, promote, and protect the sexual and reproductive health of Black women in the U.S. Dr. Irie’s research situates health disparities as a consequence of social and structural practices driven by systems of oppression rather than individual behavior.
Dr. Irie utilizes implementation science to evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions designed to improve HIV prevention care provision in diverse clinical settings that serve Black women. In addition, Dr. Irie utilizes stated preference research and other formative and participatory approaches to appropriately tailor implementation strategies and to promote the translation of evidence to action.
Dr. Irie’s current NIH-funded project ReachHer will use both stated preference and implementation science methods to 1) identify the preferences of PrEP access and HIV prevention service delivery among Black women; and 2) co-design a Black-woman centered PrEP service delivery intervention with community partners.
Dr. Irie received her doctoral degree in social work from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and completed a master’s degree in social work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Selected Publications
Irie WC, Calabrese SK, Patel RR, Mayer KH, Geng EH, Marcus JL. Preferences for HIV preexposure prophylaxis products among Black women in the U.S. AIDS and Behavior. 7 Jan 2022.
Lett E, Adekunle D, McMurray P, Ngozi Asabor E, Irie WC, Simon MA, Hardeman RR, McLemore MR. Health Equity Tourism: Ravaging the Justice Landscape. Journal of Medical Systems. (2022).
Sewell WC, Solleveld P, Seidman D, Dehlendorf C, Marcus JL, Krakower DS. Patient-led decision-making for HIV preexposure prophylaxis. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep 2021;18(1):48-56.
Sewell WC, Powell, VE, Ball-Burak M, Mayer KH, Marcus JL, Krakower DS. “I didn’t really have a primary care provider until I got PrEP”: Patients’ perspectives on PrEP as a gateway to health care. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 4 May 2021.
Sewell WC, Patel RR, Blankenship S, Marcus JL, Krakower DS, Chan PA, Parker K. Associations among HIV risk perception, sexual health efficacy, and intent to use PrEP among women: an application of the risk perception attitude framework. AIDS Educ Prev 2020;32(5):392- 402.
Selected Grants
Currently Funded Projects:
2021-
Start the conversation: A multi-level PrEP intervention for Black women
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health 1R34MH129211-01 Consultant (PIs: Amy Corneli and Meredith Clement) Develop messaging for a PrEP awareness campaign for Black women in New Orleans, LA. Develop and pilot PrEP talking points for OB/Gyn residents at a New Orleans clinic to increase PrEP uptake among Black women.
2022-
ReachHER: PrEP service delivery for Black Women
National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) AIDS Research Centers (ARC) Program, Ujima Program
Principal Investigator
Training Grants and Mentored Trainee Grants:
2014-2019
Transdisciplinary Training in Addictions Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse T32 DA15035
Predoctoral Trainee
Cunningham-Williams, R. & Bucholz, K, P.I., Washington University in Saint Louis
2019-2020
Brown University Clinical and Community-Based HIV/AIDS Research Training
National Institute on Mental Health R25 MH08362
Fellow
Nunn, A. & Flanigan, T., P.I., Brown University School of Public Health and Medicine
2021-2022
Program for AIDS Clinical Research Training (PACRT)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases T32 AI007433
Postdoctoral Trainee/Fellow
Freedberg, K., P.I., Harvard University Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital
2022-
UJIMA Mentorship Program
National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) AIDS Research Centers (ARC) Program
Boyer, C. & Arnold E., P.I.s, University of Central Florida
2017-2019
Jane B. Aron Dissertation Fellowship
National Society of Social Workers, Council of Social Work Education Health Education and Leadership
Research
2019-2022
Thomas O. Pyle Fellowship
Harvard Medical School Department of Population Medicine and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
Research
2020-2021
Inter-CFAR Implementation Science Fellowship
Johns Hopkins University NIH Centers for AIDS Research Implementation Science Working Group
Research
2021-
HIV, Infectious Disease and Global Health Implementation Research Fellowship
Washington University in St. Louis Institute for Public Health - Center for Dissemination and Implementation