Lauren Hill

Lauren Hill is an associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health, specializing in Health Science. She earned her PhD in Health Behavior from UNC Chapel Hill in 2017, MSPH in Health Behavior from the same institution in 2013, and BA in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University in 2008. Early in her career, Hill served as a Community Health Extension Agent with the Peace Corps in Togo from 2009 to 2011, focusing on community health and HIV/AIDS prevention. She then held research assistant positions at UNC on projects including a multilevel intervention to reduce HIV risk among networks of men in Tanzania, effects of cash transfers on young South African women, and evaluations in South Africa. From 2017 to 2020, she completed postdoctoral training as a Research Associate and Trainee at UNC's Department of Health Behavior and Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. She joined the faculty as Assistant Professor in April 2020 and was promoted to Associate Professor.

Hill develops and evaluates behavioral interventions addressing multilevel determinants of HIV/AIDS risk and treatment outcomes globally and domestically. Her program of research aims to enhance the population impact of HIV prevention and treatment methods by improving delivery approaches that target personal, social, and structural factors influencing their use. Current projects include community- and clinic-based interventions to promote women's uptake and effective use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention in Malawi and North Carolina, as well as research on connections between stress, mental health, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy. As principal investigator, she has received NIH/NIMH K01 funding (MH121186, 2019-2024) for promoting PrEP shared decision-making and adherence among pregnant and breastfeeding women, along with NC TraCS awards. Key publications include "HIV risk, risk perception, and PrEP interest among adolescent girls and young women in Lilongwe, Malawi: operationalizing the PrEP cascade" (Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2020), "Awareness of and attitudes toward pre-exposure prophylaxis among African American women living in low-income neighborhoods in a Southeastern city" (AIDS Care, 2021), "Perceptions of and interest in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis use among adolescent girls and young women in Lilongwe, Malawi" (PLOS ONE, 2020), and "Understanding PrEP decision making among pregnant women in Lilongwe, Malawi: A mixed-methods study" (Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2022). She received the UNC Postdoctoral Award for Research Excellence in 2019 and is a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases.

Professional Email: hilllm@email.unc.edu