Leigh Willis (PhD 2004) is a Behavioral Scientist at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

He was the Co-PI of an inaugural CDC Innovation fund project to develop and HIV/STI focused motion comic for young people ages 15-24, and served on the White House working group for using games as a policy tool.

His research at the CDC focuses on the sexual risk of heterosexual African American men and adolescents. He has presented and published in all of these areas. As an ORISE Community of Color Fellow in the Prevention Research Branch he engaged in preventing the HIV epidemic. These efforts include:

• leading a meta-analytical review of parent-child communication interventions;
• providing technical assistance as a project consultant on the Preventing African American Transmission of Heterosexual HIV Project (for Men) (PATHH 4MEN), Groundbreaking Interventions Project (Transgender and Heterosexually Active African-American Men, Transit TV (African-American Youth); and
• participating in the Replicating Effective Programs (REP) Team for Project AIM.

Dr. Willis is currently a behavioral scientist in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, Health Communication Science Office. His past research projects focused on social determinants of HIV among communities of color, HIV prevention among youth and African American heterosexual men and the use of media (traditional, social and new media) to prevent HIV/AIDS.