Julie Franks, PhD

Julie Franks, PhD is a technical specialist at ICAP with two decades of experience in research and program improvement to improve outcomes along the continuum of HIV prevention and treatment, especially for populations highly vulnerable to HIV. She works with at-risk communities in New York City as well as several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Based at ICAP's Harlem Prevention Center, she collaborates in HIV Prevention Trials Network research, including studies of innovations in biomedical HIV prevention, the HIV prevention-related needs and preferences of men who have sex with men and improving access to gender-affirming care for transgender women at risk for HIV, as well as research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to address other infectious disease threats in vulnerable populations such as young sex workers in Kenya. Most recently, her research includes collaboration in the COVID-19 Prevention Network studies, including vaccine trials and community-based COVID-19 surveillance in New York City. Dr. Franks has expertise in qualitative methods for public health research, theoretically informed models of health behavior change, and implementation science.