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Adjunct Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences

Overview

Dr. Amy Nunn is a Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the Brown University School of Public Health. She holds a secondary appointment in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brown University Medical School. She is also the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute (RIPHI). See www.RIPHI.org. 

Dr. Nunn conducts applied research and leads public health programs focused on healthy living. In 2020, RIPHI launched Open Door Health, Rhode Island's first LGBTQ clinic: See www.odhpvd.org. Open Door Health provides primary and sexual health care to Rhode Island's diverse population.  In 2022, Open Door Health also recently launched an MPOX hotline. Open Door Health tested, treated and diagnosed more patients with MPOX than any clinic in Rhode Island. In 2022, Open Door Health began a mental health program that serves the behavioral health needs of its diverse population. 

In 2021, in partnership with over 40 other institutions, Dr. Nunn launched NOURISH RI. NourishRI is a statewide advocacy campaign promoting a SNAP incentive program. This program proposed doubling the value of SNAP for Rhode Islanders when they use SNAP to purchase fruits and vegetables. See www.nourishrhodeisland.org to learn more about this advocacy initiative. This advocacy initiative continued in 2022, and in June 2022, the RI legislature appropriated $11.5 million to fund the nation's first statewide SNAP incentive program. By 2025, the program had already reached approximately 140,000 Rhode Islanders who use SNAP in retail grocery stores across the state, including 40,000 children and 60,000 older adults. 

NOURISH RI draws on the scientific evidence base from Food on the Move, RIPHI's mobile produce market that serves over 5,000 low-income Rhode Islanders every year. With support from the US Department of Agriculture and the AARP Foundation, Food on the Move offers SNAP incentives that double the value of the dollar when customers buy produce with their SNAP benefits. Food on the Move has been associated with dramatic improvements in healthy eating behaviors among SNAP recipients, and is one of the largest mobile produce markets in the United States. 

Much of Dr. Nunn's research shows that exorbitant copayments and deductibles for HIV prevention medications lead people to fall out of HIV prevention services for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP consists of one pill, once a day or bi-monthly inejctions that help HIV-negative people stay HIV-negative. In 2022, Dr. Nunn led a Rhode Island advocacy effort to sponsor legislation that limits out of pocket costs for HIV prevention medications, and to allow pharmacists to prescribe PrEP.  In June 2022, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee signed the bill into law at Open Door Health; Rhode Island now has one of the most progressive PrEP laws in the country. In 2023, the PrEP law was further improved by eliminating copayments and deductibles for PrEP altogether. This has had highly positive impacts on access to HIV prevention medications across the state of Rhode Island. 

Dr. Nunn is also Principal Investigator of an NIH grant focused on training African Americans and Latinx scholars in community and clinical research related to HIV/AIDS, with a focus on training the next generation of scientific investigators in the Deep South. 

Dr. Nunn is best known for her innovative community partnerships. She's led several health promotion programs with black pastors to promote HIV and COVID testing in the Deep South; this program is entitled Faith in Action. See mississippifaithinaction.com. 

A social scientist by training, Dr. Nunn has worked in several countries and conducted domestic and international research on a variety of health topics, including HIV/AIDS, access to reproductive health services, and family planning. Dr. Nunn has also conducted global health policy research that explores how politics, economics and intellectual property rights affect AIDS policy and access to medicines in developing countries. She is the author of the book The Politics and History of AIDS Treatment in Brazil, whose foreword was written by Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, and which was published in 2009 by Springer. She has also written numerous peer-reviewed articles about Brazil's AIDS treatment program.

Dr. Nunn has received research and service grants from the National Institutes of Health, the US Departments of Defense, Agriculture and Education, the Rhode Island Foundation, the MAC AIDS Fund, AARP Foundation, the American Heart Association, and the Center for Science and Public Interest, among many other institutions. She received the "Outstanding New Researcher Award" at the 2009 CDC HIV Prevention Conference and an NIH Career Development Award in 2010. She received an award from Brown University School of Public Health for her community service related to public health. In 2021, she received the Program Innovation Award from the RI Public Health Association, and in 2022, she received the Cheryl Snead Servant Leader Award from the American Heart Association. 

Dr. Nunn holds masters and doctoral degrees from the Harvard School of Public Health and is a former Fulbright Scholar. She speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese. 

Dr. Nunn is a proud alumna of Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Brown Affiliations

On the Web

  • Gagosz A. “A first of its kind, RI launches SNAP program that provides extra benefits for fruits, vegetables.” Jan 23, 2024. The Boston Globe.
  • Lavin N. “Rhode Islanders are slow to get the COVID-19 shot this year. Are federal guidelines to blame?” News From the States. October 9, 2025.
  • Muhammad S. “‘We were blindsided:’ Researchers are concerned about the recent loss of HIV-related federal funding.” Mississippi Public Broadcasting. April 3, 2025.
  • Milkovits A. Fitzpatrick E. Gagosz A. “RI Health Centers Say Difficulty Accessing Federal Funding Has Been ‘Very Disruptive.’” The Boston Globe. February 6, 2025.
  • Stobbe M. “The US syphilis rate has hit a near 75-year high. Scientists are baffled.” Fortune Well. January 30, 2024.
  • “What New England gets right about health - and what other states can learn.” The Boston Globe. May 2025.
  • Gagosz A. “Old monastery will have new life as affordable housing, but not everyone in affluent R.I. town agrees.”
  • Haulund E, Song C. “At least $8 million of Brown’s research grants slashed by Trump admin, project staff let go.” The Brown Daily Herald. April 10, 2025.
  • Fitzpatrick E. “R.I. health leaders set the record straight on tylenol, vaccines, autism.” The Boston Globe. September 25, 2025.
  • Stryker-Robbins A. “Statewide partnership promotes student, community health through school vaccination clinics.” The Brown Daily Herald.
  • Wong B. “These are the early warning signs of syphilis.” The Huffington Post. February 8, 2024.
  • Chiu A. “Trump slashed spending on clinical trials. The toll is starting to become clear.” The Washington Post.
  • “Bonus Podcast: Rhode Island Map Live event with the Rhode Island Foundation.” The Boston Globe. December 13, 2024.
  • Nunn A. Chan, PA. “R.I. doctors urge CVS to expand access to injectable PrEP to prevent HIV.” The Boston Globe. October 21, 2025.
  • Machado S. Gagosz A. Fitzpatrick E. “‘Complete Chaos’: Trump’s Funding Freeze Sends R.I. Nonprofits Scrambling.” The Boston Globe. January 28, 2025.
  • Nirappil F. “Deep cuts to HIV research could halt decades of progress, scientists say.” The Washington Post. April 4, 2025.
  • Rao D. “Syphilis cases are on the rise in the US.” The Week. February 7, 2024.
  • Gliadkovskaya A. Donndeliner S. “‘I’m another statistic. I feel let down’: How HIV prescription stays out of reach for many.” Fierce Healthcare. Oct 13, 2024.
  • Stowell KS. “Working Together: Allies of Rhode Island’s LGBTQ+ Community.” February 18, 2024.
  • Kim J. “Researchers face challenges in resuming studies despite restoration of federal grants.” The Brown Daily Herald. September 25, 2025.
  • “Trump’s assault on science will have dire consequences.” The Economist Podcast. May 208, 2025.
  • Reyes M. “Health care groups can help fix RI’s food insecurity crisis” The Providence Journal. May 18, 2024
  • Ryan B, Bendix A. “Trump administration axes more than $125M in LGBTQ health funding, upending research field.” NBC News. April 3, 2025.
  • Ryan B. “Appeals court finds ‘Obamacare’ pillar unconstitutional in suit over HIV-prevention drug.” NBC News.
  • Rogin A. “Syphilis in the US was once nearly eradicated. Here’s why it’s surging again.” PBS News (National). February 11, 2024
  • New pilot program offers additional SNAP benefits for buying healthy food
  • Stout M, Laughlin J. “Potential Medicaid cuts raise alarm for states: ‘What do Trump and the Republicans think will happen to these people?’” The Boston Globe.
  • Morse B. “Rhode Island Public Health Institute an ‘Open Door’ to all.” NBC 10 / WJAR. July 29, 2025.
  • Waldman A. Fields A. Clarke A. “Science Shattered.” ProPublica. June 12, 2025.
  • Nunn A, Chan P. “Why reverse a successful HIV/AIDS strategy?” The Washington Post. April 14, 2025.
  • Chan P. Nunn A. “Take the politics out of health and get your COVID vaccine this season.” The Boston Globe. September 19, 2025.
  • York D. “CDC Vaccine Changes: Dr. Amy Nunn.” The Dan Yorke Show, WPRO. December 5, 2025.
  • “Why is Argentina Withdrawing from the WHO?” Latin America Advisor. February 19, 2025.
  • “New bill will safeguard Rhode Island’s health care system and protect access to essential care.” GLAD Legal Advocates and Defenders. February 9, 2024.
  • “Live Updates: Trump administration set to freeze $510 million of Brown’s federal funding.” The Brown Daily Herald. April 3, 2025.
  • Coelho J. “5 Rhode Island LGBTQ+ Organizations to Support Through Pride and Beyond.” Rhode Island Monthly. June 12, 2024.
  • Wayne Miller G. “Q&A With Dr. Amy Nunn, CEO Of Open Door Health and the Rhode Island Public Health Institute.” Rhode Island PBS. February 12, 2025.
  • Crowley L, Holter J. “RI Health Dept. applauds kids meal bill, but can’t enforce it.” WPRI 12. April 15, 2025.
  • “Harvard Pilgrim to Phase Out Coverage of Essential HIV Medication.” The Providence Journal. November 16, 2024.
  • Machado S. “‘An attack on science’: Trump’s cuts to research threatens R.I.’s budding life sciences sector.” The Boston Globe. May 12, 2025.
  • Machado S. “Cancelled HIV research in RI is reinstated, but fears persist among DEI crackdown.” The Boston Globe. July 31, 2025.
  • Silverman E. “Gilead Plans to Halt Free Access To an HIV Drug, Worrying Patient Advocates.” STAT News. December 19, 2024.
  • “Governor McKee Signs Legislation Supporting Reproductive Care, LGBTQ+ Community.” Official State of Rhode Island. June 27, 2024.
  • NBC News: Open Door Health Celebrates Three Years
  • Boston Globe Podcast: On the Rhode Island Report podcast, Dr. Amy Nunn talks about polio, sugary drinks, misinformation and a bit of good news about monkeypox
  • Boston Globe: What Rhode Islanders Should Know about Monkeypox
  • Boston Globe: For some in the LGBTQAI+ community, a monkeypox vaccine offers both hope and anxiety
  • Donnis I. “What Trump, Mamdani Share. Hint: It’s Not in RI.” Warwick Beacon. November 13, 2025.
  • Dr. Nunn's comment on 2021 Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax on GoLocal Providence
  • Castellani K. “Health care community celebrates win in proposed FY 2026 state budget.” June 12, 2025.
  • Castro A. “R.I. General Assembly passes legislation to help expedite access to HIV prevention meds.” Rhode Island Current. June 13, 2024.
  • At community health clinic in Providence, improving access and care for LGBTQ+ patients
  • Dr. Nunn's GoLocal Interview: NourishRI and why now is the time for a sugary drinks tax
  • Castro A. “Hold the fries. Forgo the soda. R.I. kids’ menus could get a tad healthier under proposed bill.” Rhode Island Current. April 15, 2025.
  • Boston Globe: How a tax on sugary drinks could help address public health and hunger in R.I
  • Faith leaders in Jackson uniting to end HIV epidemic in the city (2023)
  • RI’s first LGBTQ-focused health clinic celebrates 2 years Brown doctors say Open Door Health takes multifaceted approach to community health care
  • Summit on RIPHI's Proposed Sugar Sweeteened Beverages Tax and SNAP Incentives
  • RI Channel 10 sugary drinks tax video
  • Adams R. “Trump makes sweeping HIV research and grant cuts: ‘Setting us back decades’” The Guardian. March 31, 2025.
  • Mississippi Faith in Action website
  • Boston Globe: A Mural Honoring LGBTQ Icons Stands Tall in Providence
  • Link for Mississippi Faith in Action Citywide Screening Event launch
  • Nourish Rhode Island Advocacy Campaign
  • RI Researchers Link Use Of Apps Like Grindr To New HIV Cases
  • A Mural recognizing LGBTQ+ rights goes up at Open Door Health in Providence
  • Turnto10: SNAP recipients to save money on fruits, veggies
  • RI Public Radio: New Report Finds Hep C Epidemic In Rhode Island
  • Ahlquist S. “With transgender and reproductive healthcare under attack nationally, Rhode Island moves to protect.” Steve Ahlquist. March 6, 2024.
  • Dr. Nunn in New York Times: How Churches Fight the Stigma of HIV
  • Reuters and NYT: Misleading Facebook Ads Turn People Away from HIV Prevention
  • City of Providence Announces Launch of Open Door Health Test Site
  • Arditi A. “Wanted: Health Director for Rhode Island.” The Public’s Radio. Feb 9, 2024.
  • New York Times: My Struggle to Take Anti-HIV Medicine
  • Health Care for All: Providence Monthly
  • Dr. Nunn's book: 'The Politics and History of AIDS Treatment in Brazil'
  • Lancet review of 'The Politics and History of AIDS Treatment in Brazil'
  • CNN: Brazil faces fresh HIV/AIDS fight
  • Newsweek: The Case for Treating Drug Addicts in Prison
  • NYT Letter to the Editor: A Supreme Court Ruling on Prison Crowding
  • Video: Brown University and Dr. Nunn announce major HIV testing and care commitment at 2012 Clinton Global Initiative
  • Dr. Nunn's Huffington Post Blog
  • Brown Medical Magazine: Testing 19143
  • CNN: Knocking on doors to end HIV in Philadelphia
  • Clarion Ledger: Sharpton attends AIDS town hall in Jackson
  • ProJo: World AIDS Day: HIV cases increasing in R.I
  • NPR: Political Roundtable at Rhode Island Public Radio
  • NPR: Mobile markets bring affordable produce to low-income neighborhoods
  • NPR: Health Officials Set New Targets For HIV/AIDS Treatment, Diagnosis
  • ProJo: Report - Bristol County residents are healthiest in R.I