Sunni and Lisa are joined by Dr. MarkAlain Déry who talks about structural racism in healthcare and his latest venture into health education via animation.
Dr. MarkAlain Déry, who is a nationally recognized HIV/AIDS advocate and Medical Director of Infectious Diseases and Chief Innovation Officer for Access Health Louisiana – the largest Medicaid-providing clinic system in Louisiana.
Throughout his career Dr. Déry has been dedicated to raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and the social justice issues tied to it. His most current efforts include releasing a series of free, innovative animated videos aimed at conveying crucial health messaging surrounding HIV medications designed to destigmatize HIV and people of trans experience.
A truly exemplary infectious disease physician, even being named Internist of the Year by the American College of Osteopathic Internists, Dr. Déry remains steadfastly committed to working for human rights and social justice.
NoiseFilter — an educational platform that addresses health and wellness topics through creative storytelling — in conjunction with Access Health Louisiana (AHL) and theAIDS Education Training Center, is pleased to announce a new animation trilogy aimed at conveying crucial health messaging around HIV and HIV medications.
NoiseFilter is hosted by Dr. MarkAlain Déry, an infectious disease physician, and Dr. Eric Griggs (Doc Griggs), a community health specialist both of AHL. Through daily podcasts, engaging live streams and whimsical animations, the doctors explain complex health topics simply and creatively. Dr. Déry is also the Medical Director of Infectious Diseases and Chief Innovation Officer for Access Health Louisiana where he specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS at the Pythian clinic in New Orleans.
Alongside Dr. Déry and Doc Griggs, the new innovative animations — designed to destigmatize HIV while also amplifying the voice of people of trans experience — will also feature Milan Nicole Sherry, a trans rights activist and educator.
“Our goal is to change the stigma that still remains around HIV,” said Dr. Déry. “The colorful and compelling videos use creative exploration into the human body to explain HIV medications and how they protect individuals from transmission.”
In the first animation, Undetectable, Untransmittable and Undeniably Fierce! Déry and Doc Griggs journey inside Milan’s body to explain that people living with HIV, who are taking their medications, can have the same quality and quantity of life as individuals living without HIV, also known as U=U. The human immune system is depicted as an orchestra and illustrates how, when introduced, HIV causes chaos for the musical conductors.
Get in Step with PrEP, the second animation, also features Milan as she joins Dr. Déry and Doc Griggs inside of Dr. Déry’s body to explain how PrEp, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, prevents HIV transmission. In the video, PrEP is seen as a force field, targeting HIV once it enters Dr. Déry’s body. One of the key takeaways is that people living without HIV can take PrEP as a defense as the autoimmune disease.
The third animation, Little Miss Muffuletta (a reference to the popular New Orleans food staple), uses the classic nursery rhyme of Little Miss Muffet to explain nPEP or non-occupational post exposure prophylaxis. In this clever animation an HIV exposure has occurred and nPEP is needed to prevent HIV from replicating. When nPEP is us