Ocean Rivera is a 25-year-old woman of trans experience who’s breaking barriers in research and for women like herself. She supported the implementation of a historic study as a peer health navigator. HPTN 091 is a first-of-its-kind study for trans-feminine people. Ocean was also the first trans woman to be named a state finalist and compete for the title of Miss New York, part of the Miss USA pageant. She currently works as a peer health navigator for Columbia University in New York.

Dr. Zubair Lukyamuzi, protocol chair for HPTN 111, is a public health specialist and researcher at the Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University (MU-JHU) research collaboration in Kampala, Uganda. He has served as a principal investigator on various studies, including a Fogarty/NIH-funded experimental study that assessed the role of community health workers (CHW) in supporting disclosure among adults living with HIV in heterosexual relationships in rural Uganda.

Jason L. Brock, a member of the HPTN 096 study, is a peer supporter guiding Black gay, bisexual, same-gender loving, and other men who have sex with men in Dallas. His background includes education, grant management, program development, and advocacy. Jason's goal is for others to become better educated and help people overcome the stigma of receiving proper care and treatment. He holds a bachelor's degree in business management with coursework in applied science in education.

Josias da Silva Freitas is a community educator and liaison for the Black community at the Instituto de Pesquisa Clinica Evandro Chagas (IPEC) CRS in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has worked at IPEC CRS since the early 1990s as part of the community education team recruiting and engaging populations deemed most vulnerable, especially the Black community, accessing, welcoming, and promoting HIV prevention and linkage to care.