Melissa Turner

For more than 20 years, Melissa Turner, MSW, LICSW, MPA, has been integrally involved in patient care management and HIV clinical trial research in Washington, D.C. as a social worker and community engagement manager. Melissa is a Clinical Social Worker in the Infectious Diseases Section serving veterans living with HIV and a community engagement specialist for HIV research trials on the local, international and network level for National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial networks. She is the Community Advisory Board (CAB) liaison for the VA Medical Center ID Section and the George Washington University HIV Prevention Research Community Advisory Board.

For the HIV Prevention Trials Network, she co-chairs the Community Working Group and serves on the Executive Committee of the Network. She is also a member of the community working group for the newly-formed COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN). Melissa specializes in community education, bridging the divide between science and community and works to integrate community needs and perspectives in all aspects of clinical trial design from conception, implementation and results dissemination.