Mayna Magnus

Manya Magnus, PhD, MPH is Professor and Interim Chair, Department of Epidemiology at the Milken Institute of Public health, George Washington University. Dr. Magnus is an epidemiologist with over 25 years of experience implementing clinical trials and investigator-initiated studies for populations with and at risk for HIV. Her expertise with innovative recruitment and study implementation methodology, research management, and behavioral epidemiologic skills allow her to support the SHARE program and provide expertise in all phases of study design, implementation, analysis, and dissemination. As a behavioral epidemiologist and a nurse, Dr. Magnus has been the Clinical Research Site (CRS) leader for the GW HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) site at GW and has been the study leader for multiple studies, including “the BROTHERS Study”, “ISIS” (Study Co-Leader), “Phase II study of Maraviroc as PrEP”, “Truvada and C4 counseling for Black MSM”, and “Phase II study of injectable cabotegravir,  “Phase II study of VRC01 for MSM and transgender women”, and “Phase II/III study of injectable cabotegravir”. Along with colleagues Dr. Marc Siegel and Dr. Sarah Henn (Whitman-Walker Health Chief medical Officer and DC CFAR Institutional Representative), they lead the District of Columbia Clinical Trials Unit (DC CTU). Dr. Magnus’s investigator-initiated work in the last decade has focused on novel approaches to support HIV prevention among Black MSM and transgender women of color, using methods to facilitate a greater understanding of how to meet each population's unique HIV prevention needs.  This work includes “Understanding Structural Barriers to HIV Prevention Utilization for Black MSM” and “Telemedicine for Transgender Women of Color” as well as studies that use novel health approaches to overcome structural barriers to HIV prevention services. Over her career, Dr. Magnus has mentored hundreds of graduate students and numerous early-stage investigators within DC Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR). She is also a mentor for the HPTN Scholars Program and a leader of the DC CFAR-supported Mid-Atlantic CFAR Consortium Scholars Program.