Jordan D. Helms, MPH, CHES
In 2015, Jordan Helms was an MPH candidate at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health when he accepted a field placement with the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH), Office of HIV/AIDS. His major undertaking was primary data collection for a qualitative study exploring barriers to healthcare, specifically HIV prevention, for men who have sex with men (MSM) living in rural Georgia.
Because he hopes to someday become a research professor, Jordan was especially grateful for the opportunity to be an investigator on a research study. He explained, “I think this opportunity early on is giving me the chance to experience what that would be like.”
Jordan has shared the findings of his field experience widely. In addition to using it as his master’s thesis, he co-authored a chapter in the 2017 book HIV/AIDS in Rural Communities: Research, Education, and Advocacy. He is now employed as a Public Health Program Associate with Programs, Research and Innovation in Sexual Minority Health (PRISM) at the Rollins School of Public Health.