Amy Corneli, PhD, is a professor in population health sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. A social scientist by training, she conducts qualitative, mixed-method, intervention, and implementation science research. She has a history of collaborating with and learning from community organizations and representatives. She is currently conducting research in the U.S. and Kenya focusing on reducing systemic and other barriers to HIV prevention. She is also a qualitative research methodologist and the director of QualCore. QualCore partners with faculty and fellows across the School of Medicine on their research, providing expertise in qualitative study design, data collection, analysis, and dissemination.
What inspired you to pursue science as a career? Was there a specific person or experience that sent you down this path?
I was motivated to become a social scientist from observing the societal structures and social norms that shape the world we live in and from listening to people’s stories about the challenges they face within their environments. My mother was also highly influential in my decision to focus on population health. Growing up, I often accompanied her to the community and charitable events she organized. Through those experiences, I observed her compassion and commitment to treating people fairly, recognizing that not everyone has access to the same resources. Becoming a scientist in population health sciences and medicine provided me opportunities to systematically document people's experiences, share their realities with others, and contribute to identifying and implementing interventions to improve people’s health and well-being.
I became interested in my field of research — HIV prevention — as a teenager in the 80’s, reading news articles about the AIDS epidemic as it was emerging in the U.S. I was engaged in U.S.-based HIV-prevention activities throughout college and graduate school and shifted to working globally in HIV prevention after witnessing the epidemic’s impact on people and their communities while working in sub-Saharan Africa. I now work in HIV prevention both domestically and globally, and I am continually impressed and inspired by the love, creativity, grit, resilience, courage, and strength of the united global community dedicated to ending the HIV epidemic.
Has there been a finding or development in your research that has surprised you recently? Tell me a bit about what that was and why it was surprising.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can significantly reduce the number of new HIV infections worldwide. However, stigma is a significant barrier to its use. I am currently developing and piloting a community-level, stigma-reduction intervention in Kenya called Loko paro/Transforming attitudes. This theater-based intervention is designed to transform stigmatizing social norms into supportive ones that normalize PrEP use among young women. It’s a collaboration with several Kenya- and U.S.-based partners: The Eldoret Film Festival and Tinada Youth Organization, two Kenya-based theater groups; Theater Delta, a U.S.-based interactive theater group; and researchers at Impact Research and Development Organization (IRDO) in Kenya.
Becoming a scientist in population health sciences and medicine provided me opportunities to systematically document people's experiences, share their realities with others, and contribute to identifying and implementing interventions to improve people’s health and well-being.
I’ve been collaborating with researchers at IRDO for nearly 20 years, but our partnership with thespians is a new one for us. We chose to reach out to theater groups because theater is a culturally congruent approach, and women who participated in our formative research suggested that it could help normalize the use of PrEP in the community.
I was surprised by how closely our methodological perspectives align with the thespians’ in creating social change interventions. These similarities, such as integrating evidence about contextual factors and using strategies to promote collective problem-solving, made this new multidisciplinary partnership exceptionally harmonious.
While our overall philosophies aligned, we — the researchers — had no idea how to create drama performances that could facilitate social change. However, our theater partners certainly did. As experts in interactive theater and Theatre of the Oppressed approaches, they designed plays that incorporated our studies’ findings and followed systematic steps that allow audiences to explore and address issues of oppression — in our case, HIV-related stigma.
Early pre-testing findings suggest that Loko Paro is engaging and persuasive. This experience further demonstrates, to me, that collaborating with people in other disciplines is critical for conducting meaningful research. We are all looking forward to collaborating on future grants to fully evaluate the Loko Paro intervention once we complete the pilot study.
What advice would you give to young people aspiring to enter the field of science?
Specific to the field of social science in population health sciences and medicine: Take the time to create and nurture meaningful partnerships, both in academia and the community. Connect with other academic investigators who share similar goals and have complementary skill sets. Seek out community partners with similar passions, and value their unique insights and critical role in research. You will find that multi-disciplinary and community collaborations will substantially broaden and enhance the impact of your research, and lasting partnerships will enrich your personal experiences as a researcher.