My bachelor is in Psychology and my master degree is in Psychosociology from the EICOS Program (Interdisciplinary Studies of Communities and Social Ecology of the Institute of Psychology of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). During my Psychology training at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, i started training in HIV specific aspects and mental health and during my internship. I was trained as a counselor at the HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center ( VCT) at the São Francisco de Assis Hospital. I've also worked for several years at a major HIV/AIDS NGO in Rio de Janeiro, where i gained a lot of experience in the fields of sexuality, youth and STD/AIDS prevention. I' am currently Community Advisory Board (CAB) member and community educator affiliated to the Fiocruz CTU in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I’ve been tracking protocols that are under development and under implementation from the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) and the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN). My role in the protocols is conducting community preparedness and engagement activities to facilitate successful conduct of HPTN and ACTG clinical research studies. I facilitated community engagement by disseminating information on new methods of prevention through educational materials, conferences and discussion groups.