In this episode, Toyin Nwafor, MD, (tfal) sits down with Dr. Marissa Robinson to break down a study on Black HBCU women’s PrEP knowledge and awareness -and why conversations about HIV prevention need to become more normal, more accessible, and more culturally relevant.They discuss:

•⁠ ⁠Why PrEP awareness remains a major gap, even among highly educated students

•⁠ ⁠How the health belief model and socio-ecological model helped shape the research

•⁠ ⁠What focus groups revealed about stigma, access, provider conversations, and misconceptions

•⁠ ⁠Why the impact of HIV prevention messaging depends on whether people can see themselves in it

•⁠ ⁠How biomedical innovation only works when delivery, trust, and community access are addressed too

A major theme throughout the conversation is that HIV prevention cannot happen in a vacuum. The work has to meet people where they are — in clinics, on campuses, in group chats, in beauty shops, and in everyday conversations that make prevention feel relevant and real.

Why It Matters

This conversation shows why HIV prevention messaging must be tailored, community-informed, and grounded in lived experience if we want to close persistent gaps in care and prevention.