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Jessica  Sales

Assoc Professor

Associate Professor

Faculty, Behavioral/Social/Health Educ

By training, Dr. Sales is a developmental psychologist with expertise in cognitive and emotional development, and post-doctoral training in behavioral science. She is Co-Director of the Prevention and Implementation Sciences Core of the Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and is the Director the Emory CFAR Implementation Science Hub. She also currently serves as the Co-Director of the RSPH Maternal and Child Health Certificate Program. Much of Dr. Sales' current research focuses on dissemination and implementation science in the context of HIV prevention for women and girls in the Southern US. Specifically, she has served as PI on three implementation science studies designed to facilitate the integration of PrEP for HIV prevention services in Title X-funded family planning clinics across the Southern US. Also, building on her patient-centered research pertaining to unmet needs among girls and women stemming from trauma, she also serves as PI on three NIMH-funded studies to assess readiness and capacity of Ryan White funded HIV clinics to adopt and implement trauma informed care practices in HIV primary care services across the Southeastern US. Dr. Sales was also Co-PI on recently completed CDC-funded U01 to develop, implement and evaluate the efficacy of a multi-level, multimedia intervention designed to simultaneously improve clinical counseling pertaining to contraception and STI/HIV prevention by providers in an adolescent medicine clinic in addition to providing a brief individual-level behavioral intervention with adolescent female clients to improve dual protection use (i.e., highly effective contraception plus condom use). These studies highlight her experience collecting and using formative data to develop, adapt and implement evidence-based interventions in clinical settings, and highlight her most recent research on clinical/practice improvements as a way to improve patient outcomes. She has extensive experience with adaptation and development of assessment tools (both quantitative and qualitative), development of intervention and training materials, including those targeting patients, providers and organizations (e.g., clinics, schools). Further, she have effectively disseminated findings from these projects as indicated by her publication history (served as author or co-author on over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, as well as over 20 book chapters).

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Contact Information

Emory University , Rollins School of Public Health

Atlanta , GA 30322

Rollins School of Public Health

Phone: 404-727-6598

Email: jmcderm@emory.edu

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Areas of Interest

  • Adolescent Health/Child Health
  • Behavior and Health
  • HIV/AIDS Prevention
  • Implementation Science
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Sexual Health/Behavior

Education

  • PhD 2004, Emory University
  • MA 2000, Emory University
  • BS 1998, University of Iowa

Courses Taught

  • BSHE 712: Grant Writing & Rsch.Ethics

Affiliations & Activities

Chair of the Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Violence at Emory University

Associated faculty, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Emory University

Chair, Committee on Psychology and AIDS (COPA), American Psychological Association

Guest Co-Editor, Special Issue: “Refining Prevention: Genetic and Epigenetic Contributions” in Frontiers in Psychology

Publications

  • , , Patient recommendations for PrEP information dissemination at family planning clinics in Atlanta, Georgia., Contraception, 99, 233-238
  • , , Trauma-informed HIV prevention and treatment., Current HIV/AIDS Reports, 13, 374-382
  • , , Socioeconomic-related risk and STI infection among African-American adolescent females. , Journal of Adolescent Health., 55, 698-704
  • , , Interaction between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and abuse history on adolescent African-American females’ condom use behavior following participation in an HIV prevention intervention. , Prevention Science, doi: 10.1007/s11121-013-0378-6.,
  • , , The mediating role of partner communication skills on HIV/STD-associated risk behaviors in African American female adolescents with a history of gender-based violence., Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 162(5), 432-438
  • , , The role of parental coping in asthmatic children’s psychological well-being and asthma-related quality of life. , Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 33(2), 208-219.
  • , , Relationship of STD-related shame and stigma to female adolescents’ condom-protected intercourse. , Journal of Adolescent Health, 40 (6), 573.e1-6
  • , , A decade in review: Building on the experiences of past adolescent STI/HIV interventions to optimize future prevention efforts. , Sexually Transmitted Infection, 82, 431-436.