MEET DR. LASHONDA SPENCER
INCOMING DIRECTOR OF DREW C. A. R. E. S.( CONTINUED)
the lab and eventually rose to the post of Medical Director over the last eight years.
Leaving was a hard decision to make. She enjoyed her career at USC, but it was time for her to return to South Los Angeles. Her CDU posting has similarities as well as differences to her previous work.
“ Here at CDU the aim is to treat this patient population with the intention of addressing disparities with a focused and purposeful intent. At USC we did it because that’ s who walked through the door. I’ ve known Dr. Wilbert Jordan for a long time and I’ m so excited to be a part of this community. I feel like I can relate to my clients. I feel that they can relate to me. We have some types of shared experiences.
“ I don’ t represent all of Black America, but our shared experience helps me make that connection. I’ m a researcher as well as a clinician and we need more Black folks and other people of color participating in research. I think having providers that look like them that are leading these research trials is really important to get more client buy-in because we do know that there’ s still a lot of medical mistrust.
“ We can break that down by having more medical providers who look like the community we want to do research in. That’ s the challenge still to this day,” she said.
“ Drew C. A. R. E. S. is the umbrella under which all the of the HIV research activities and services are housed. It is known as one of the first agencies to respond to the HIV epidemic in south Los Angeles. It’ s got this rich history of serving folks living with HIV in South LA,” she observed.
While at LA County General, she worked extensively with Dr. Jordan.“ I have an affinity and respect for everything he’ s done here. We’ ve all learned from him and my goal is to build upon that legacy with the community, build the HIV infrastructure, and lead the team in developing and implementing the strategies and protocols for HIV research and educational outreach,” she added. She is laudatory of the new team she will lead.“ To be able to learn from them and to work with them at CDU is just an honor,” she said.
“ My work at LA County General Hospital is the foundation for everything that I’ ve done,” she stated. She has also had a lot of community involvement exposure through her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta.
Her goal is to end the HIV epidemic. She noted that there is lots of work to be done and ways to grow and build upon what’ s already at CDU.“ We still need more work in HIV community education and getting people enrolled in the HIV prevention services that we offer. And we continue to address the social determinants that keep people out of care. That’ s always been the focus at Drew,” she added.
“ We know that in our community, we have so many other stresses in our lives that our care comes last. It’ s always been an issue. And with Drew being where it is, adjacent to MLK Hospital, we have a greater opportunity to address these needs so our patients don’ t have to travel all over the place to get this care. We can also think about the person as a whole individual rather than thinking of them as a diseased entity.
“ I think that Drew has always done that. With a continued focus on that approach, and a highlight on everything that’ s going on in the world, there’ s more opportunity to really address the needs of our community because people are starting to pay attention to that now. They recognize that it is racism and discrimination that has led to the chronic issues in our community.”
CDU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE | PG. 13