Biography
Leandro Mena, MD, MPH, is a clinician-researcher and public health advocate with expertise in the prevention and clinical management of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV. He is founding chair of the Department of Population Health Science at the University of Mississippi Medical Center John D. Bower School of Population Health and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, directs the Center for HIV/AIDS Research, Education & Policy at the Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for Elimination of Health Disparities, and serves as the STD Medical Director for the state of Mississippi. He is also the Medical Director of the Five Points Clinic (Jackson’s public STD clinic) and co-founded Open Arms Healthcare Center (first LGBT clinic in Mississippi). In recognition to his work developing a model program of culturally-competent HIV prevention and care for Black men who have sex with men which is being replicated in other clinics of the country, he was awarded the 2016 Achievement Award by the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA). He is board certified in infectious diseases. Dr. Mena's work has been featured in medical and public health journals such as Clinical Infectious Diseases, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Journal of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, and American Journal of Public Health. He is a research fellow with the Rural Center for STD/HIV Prevention (Indiana University). Dr. Mena’s interests include the understanding dynamics of HIV transmission in racial/ethnic, gender and sexual minorities as well as the development and provision of culturally competent quality health services to these populations.