President Obama has appointed Douglas M. Brooks, MSW, as director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), according to a White House statement. Brooks, a gay African-American man living with HIV, will lead ONAP efforts to reduce new HIV cases, improve health outcomes for HIV-positive people and eliminate HIV health disparities nationwide.

He was most recently the senior vice president for community, health and public policy at the Justice Resource Institute (JRI), a health and human service agency in Boston. He was executive director of the Sidney Borum Jr. Community Health Center at JRI and has assisted domestic and international governments and non-governmental organizations in their HIV/AIDS efforts.

Brooks was chair of the board of trustees of AIDS United. He also has served on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). He has directly managed federally-funded HIV/AIDS programs, meeting or exceeding targets. Brooks received a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from Boston University and is a licensed clinical social worker.

To read the statement, click here.