Megan E. Dieterich, MPH, MMSc, PA-C, AAHIVS

Research Clinician, The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker

Physician Assistant, Whitman-Walker Health

BA, Kenyon College

MPH, Tulane School of Public Health 2007

MMSc, PA-C, Yale School of Medicine Physician Associate Program 2010

Areas of expertise: HIV prevention and treatment; Primary Care; Implementation Science; Health Equity and Community-engaged research

Background: Megan Dieterich is a Physician Assistant, HIV care specialist, clinical researcher, and public health practitioner whose career bridges compassionate clinical care and cutting-edge implementation science. With more than 15 years of experience, she is dedicated to translating scientific discoveries into equitable, real-world improvements in health outcomes, particularly for communities disproportionately affected by HIV.

Since joining Whitman-Walker Health in 2010, Megan has provided comprehensive primary care with a focus on HIV medicine, gender-affirming care, hepatitis C treatment, and substance use disorder management to a diverse patient population in both NW and SE Washington, DC. In 2015, she became a lead clinician for the Mobile Outreach Retention and Engagement (MORE) program, which delivers home-based care to individuals living with HIV with complex barriers to traditional care. She continues to conduct home visits and leads the program’s monitoring and evaluation efforts, including securing funding, overseeing IRB processes, and guiding quality improvement initiatives. As Principal Investigator (PI), she led an industry-funded investigator-initiated study to assess patient-reported outcomes among participants of the MORE program, extended the protocol to evaluate post-COVID care models, and led a five-year retrospective study in partnership with NASTAD and the Center for Innovation and Engagement to inform national replication of the MORE program model.

In 2020, Megan joined the Whitman-Walker Institute as a Research Clinician, where she applies her clinical insights to implementation science research that bridges the gap between innovation and practice. She serves as PI on two industry funded investigator-initiated implementation science studies: the CREATE trial, evaluating home delivery of long-acting CAB/RPV for people with adherence challenges and the INCLUSION study which aims to explore lenacapavir for PrEP delivery in non-traditional settings.  She also serves as the PI on an industry funded phase 4 study, the EBONI trial, which seeks to expand access to injectable PrEP for Black cisgender and transgender women.

Beyond her implementation science work, Megan is a Sub-Investigator for numerous industry-sponsored clinical trials evaluating emerging therapies for HIV treatment and prevention. She plays an active role in protocol execution, participant recruitment, clinical assessment, and safety monitoring. Megan also serves as a Sub-Investigator for the NIH-funded Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally (ACTG) network, contributing to studies on HIV cure, treatment optimization, and comorbidities, and is a member of the ACTG Neurology Collaborative Science Group.

In addition to her clinical and research roles, Megan is a dedicated educator. She has precepted more than forty physician associate students and serves as a voluntary adjunct clinical professor at the Yale School of Medicine’s Physician Associate Program, where she mentors future clinicians committed to health equity and community-centered care.

Her commitment to global and community health was shaped early in her career. While earning her Master of Public Health in International Health and Development from Tulane University, she worked as an HIV testing counselor in New Orleans and served as a UNICEF intern in Thailand. She later received her Master of Medical Science from the Yale School of Medicine, where she was honored with the Dean’s Humanitarian Award and a Wilbur Downs Global Health Fellowship, conducting fieldwork in South Africa on nutrition and HIV treatment outcomes.

Rooted in service and guided by science, Megan’s work reflects a steadfast commitment to health equity. Through her clinical care, research, and mentorship, she continues to advance inclusive, patient-centered models that bring lifesaving innovations directly to the communities that need them most.