The NP That Cares 💕
@thenpthatcares.bsky.social
💎 Family Nurse Practitioner 💎 HIV Specialist/Certified Inpatient OB Nurse 💎 Melanated Change Agent 💎 My why is rooted in justice & equity for Black women 🖤
I’m so delighted to announce I successfully defended my dissertation titled Reimagining HIV Prevention: Unveiling Opportunities to Strengthen Sexual Reproductive Health Services and Promote HIV Prevention for Cisgender Black Women at Risk for HIV in Maryland on December 8, 2025! #PhinisheD
It’s official I will be defending my dissertation on December 8, 2025 at 1:30 PM (EST)! This milestone represents far more than the culmination of coursework, research, and long nights. Thank you for walking with me through this chapter. Let’s finish this together! Onward. #PhDJourney
PrEP is often called the 1st female-controlled HIV prevention. Female condoms are available & protect against HIV/STIs, can be placed up to 8 hrs before sex, but are NOT discreet (& barely promoted) That’s why I say: PrEP is the first discreet female-controlled option—and that distinction matters.
I spoke with Melanie Hastings of 7News DC about the game-changing approval of lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable PrEP option. It’s a huge step forward—but 3 mins flies by, so here’s what I didn’t get to say:
I want to take a moment to clarify a critical point because the continued misuse of "intersectionality" in academic discourse, scholarship, and practice is not only frustrating, it is intellectually careless and can be very harmful.
@statacorp.bsky.social & I have been going strong for 5 years on this very exhausting #PhDjourney. This cute gift set couldn’t have come at a better time. Thank you so much to the STATA team for this gift 💕
“According to Darwin's Origin of Species, it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.” -Megginson
If you want to be invited to the public portion of my dissertation defense (once scheduled) please DM or text me your email! I don't want to miss anyone but my brain is completely fried! There will be virtual option so anyone near and far can tune in. #phdjourney
I just returned from two transformative events—the National PrEP in Black America Research Strategy Meeting and NMAC’s Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit. I’m left feeling a mix of urgency, gratitude, and renewed resolve.
“As important as the work is, you have to be able to do it. You have to take care of your whole person.” -Dr. Gerald Torres
Log off. Tune out the noise. Choose yourself. The world feels so heavy—turmoil in Haiti, rising xenophobia/racism/sexism, attacks on my research agenda, PhD’ing in isolation, job hunting, healing, etc. In the midst of it all, I’m choosing me. I’m choosing gratitude. #MentalHealth
This Jess Hilarious and Loren LoRosa situation is a whole case study in what happens when systems thrive by dividing and conquering, especially among women.
My wombmate, @ucheblackstockmd.bsky.social, and I had the honor of being invited to Trinity College earlier this month for the college’s Women’s Herstory Month program. I love tag teaming with my sister so please ignore my facial expression below- I just do that when I’m listening intently💛🤣
Trinity’s Women’s Herstory Month Keynote Honors Women’s Leadership and Empowerment
Oni Blackstock, M.D., and Uché Blackstock, M.D., spoke about women’s leadership and shared their personal stories.
trincoll.edu
I learned so much writing this story for @nbcnews.com. 42 million Americans carry at least one strain of HPV (human pappiliomavirus) that can cause disease, including genital warts or cancer, and 47,000 a year are diagnosed with an HPV-linked malignancy. www.nbcnews.com/health/cance... 1/3
Cancer caused by HPV is increasing in some women in the U.S.
The percentage of women screened for cervical cancer fell, especially in rural areas, as rates of the disease have been edging up among women in their 30s and 40s.
nbcnews.com
Between pushing forward w/my dissertation ✍🏾, navigating anxieties about political warfare in the 🇺🇸, bracing myself for an uncertain professional future 📚, managing health woes as a clinician 👩🏾⚕️, & personal/vicarious trauma of witnessing turmoil in 🇭🇹—it’s a wonder how I get up each day and keep moving
Vicarious trauma is sooo real! Constant exposure to human suffering—whether through direct experience or witnessing it from afar—takes an emotional and mental toll on most people. It is NOT normal to see suffering day in and day out without feeling its weight.
I am a multifaceted BLACK Haitian-American WOMAN who colors beyond the lines and exists beyond the proverbial box. My essence is bold, fluid, and unapologetic—and by daring to color outside the lines, I create a reality that is expansive, authentic, and uniquely mine 💕!
On a day dedicated to rest for Black women, my opinion piece was published on Nursology. This was an unexpected but pleasant surprise and reminder that our voices and perspectives matter, especially during these uncertain times. Read here: nursology.net/2025/03/10/t...
#CROI2025 was a success New Investigator Award ✅ Selected as a PC Poster Pick (1 of 5 Selected) ✅ Presented to Dr. Monica Gandhi & poster walk group ✅ Spotlight 3 min video was circulated to all attendees ✅ Networked with experts across industries ✅
Thank you so much to my Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) family for featuring me on this important day. The fight to end the HIV epidemic feels more urgent than ever as political, social, and structural forces threaten to undo so much progress and hard work.
Attending #CROI2025, and I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to present findings from my dissertation! Equally exciting—I was selected for a New Investigator Award! 💕
Just returned from my first ISSWSH/ISSM conference—definitely not my last! I had the opportunity to present qualitative data from my dissertation (partially funded by ISSWSH) and was affirmed by remarkable scientists and clinicians on the importance of my work!
How’s PhD life going you asked? Tons and tons of reading, coding in STATA and MAXQDA, writing, re-writing, traveling to conferences and presenting, applying for jobs/postdocs, crying, diabolical levels of fatigue, & dodging the news networks! How are you all doing? #phdlife
Between having 1000 tabs open, 18 documents, STATA, & Teams open my computer crashes at minimum 10x a day #phdlife #phdjourney #dissertation
What are some of your favorite data visualization softwares? #phd #scientist #scholars
In times of crisis, people generally don't become more revolutionary or communal; instead, they tend to become more selfish and individualistic. This response is largely shaped by the pressures of capitalism and other systems of exploitation,
Anybody else exhausted? I’m emotionally and mentally burned out. The urgency to finish this PhD coupled with so much uncertainty and daily stressors is stifling. I’m trying to summon the same strength I had as a clinician gowning up to care for patients in the early days of COVID #PhDjourney
🗓 February 7th: National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 🩸✊🏾 Today, we recognize National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD)—a critical moment to reaffirm our commitment to addressing the stark racial disparities in HIV prevention, treatment, and care.
