Oni Blackstock

Oni Blackstock is an American primary care and HIV physician, researcher, and founder of Health Justice, a racial and health equity consulting practice. She previously served as assistant commissioner for the Bureau of HIV for the New York City Department of Health, where she led the city's response to the HIV epidemic. Her research considers the experiences of women and people of color in healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic Blackstock shared advice on how people in New York City could maintain sexual health and slow the spread of COVID-19 as well as guidance for people with HIV and HIV care providers about the intersection of HIV and COVID-19.

Early life and education Blackstock grew up in Brooklyn. She attended the Stuyvesant High School in New York City. She completed her undergraduate and graduate medical degrees at Harvard University. She attended Harvard alongside her twin sister, Uché Blackstock, who also studied medicine. She has said that she was inspired to study medicine because of her mother's work at the "intersection of advocacy and primary care". Blackstock lost her mother to leukemia at the age of 47. She went on to train in primary care internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center / Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she also served as ambulatory care chief resident.

Research and career Blackstock's research is focused on the effective management of HIV, particularly for women and other marginalised groups. As part of her research, Blackstock has identified that women often prioritise the health of other family members over their own health. Her project, which was in partnership with the New York Harm Reduction Educators organisation, focused on women in East Harlem and The Bronx. As part of her research she identified that recommendations from the CDC disqualified women who were at-risk of HIV infection from receiving medication. Blackstock previously served on the New York City Department of Health Women's Advisory Board, which looks to empower women in their communities. As part of her efforts, Blackstock has worked to promote Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to New York City communities that were worst impacted by the HIV epidemic. These communities include women of colour and LGBT people. The Ending the Epidemic initiative, which involved a $23 million investment, has funded eight clinics across New York City for low and no-cost testing and treatment. She launched the Made Equal campaign, which was part of New York City's Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) initiative. The U=U initiative promoted the message that people who have undetectable HIV viral load cannot sexually transmit the virus to others. In 2019, Blackstock announced that, thanks to these public health interventions, there had been a decline in HIV-positive cases of 67% since 2001.

In April 2020, Mother Jones featured the Blackstock twins as both being "on the front lines of New York City’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic". As part of her efforts to slow the spread of the virus, Blackstock and the New York City Department of Health created guidance on how to practise safe sex during the time of the pandemic. The advice included, "You are your safest sex partner; next safest is a partner you live with".

Selected publications

Personal life Alongside her research and work as a physician, Blackstock shares her experiences on social media. She primarily uses Twitter. In 2019 she was honoured by Out magazine for her efforts to end the HIV epidemic. Her twin sister, Uché Blackstock, is an emergency medicine physician and Founder/CEO of Advancing Health Equity.