About NCHTEC
The mission of the North Carolina HIV Education and Training Center (NCHETC) is to support persons engaged in HIV prevention and treatment across our state, through training and technical assistance. Our team of experts helps social workers, case managers, providers (physicians & APPs), nurses, dentists and pre-professional students learn how to provide high-quality care for persons living with or at risk for HIV. Topics include sexual health, issues of race and sexuality in HIV medicine, care for transgender persons, current trends in the HIV epidemic, biomedical and behavioral HIV prevention, antiretroviral therapy for persons living with HIV and the care of persons living with viral hepatitis.
The North Carolina HIV Training & Education Center
Email:
For Program Inquiries
nchtec@med.unc.edu
Mailing Address:
Suite 2115 Bioinformatics Bldg
130 Mason Farm Rd. CB #7030
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
United States
(L-R Clack, Durham, Hurt)
About our team
Christopher Hurt, MD, FIDSA, is a Professor of Medicine in the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the UNC School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of Florida in 2003, completed an internal medicine residency at Brown University, and then came to UNC Chapel Hill for fellowship training in infectious diseases and HIV medicine in 2006. He has been a faculty member at UNC since 2010, contributing to inpatient and ambulatory patient care, public health-oriented HIV research, and graduate medical and professional education. Dr. Hurt’s clinical and research interests focus primarily on HIV treatment and prevention. Since 2019, he has been the director of NCHTEC. In 2020, he was elected to be a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and in 2022 he was named Vice Chief for Clinical Operations for the UNC Division of Infectious Diseases.
Cassandra B. Durham is the Program Manager for the North Carolina HIV Training and Education Center (NCHTEC) within the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the UNC School of Medicine. She is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Social Work, and holds a Master of Science in Human Services with a concentration in Social and Community Services from Capella University. She also completed seminary training at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, earning a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry. She is currently pursuing a DMin at Liberty.
Ms. Durham brings extensive experience in public health program leadership, HIV workforce education, and community partnership development. Prior to joining NCHTEC, she served in multiple social service and community health roles, strengthening systems of support for underserved populations across North Carolina.
Since joining NCHTEC, Ms. Durham has led major statewide training initiatives, including the HIV Medical Case Management Community of Practice, a two year nationwide talk on Deconstructing Racism and collaborative prevention and care trainings with the Communicable Disease Branch. Her professional interests include HIV workforce capacity-building, health equity, culturally responsive training development, and advancing patient-centered approaches to HIV prevention and care.
A respected communicator and bridge-builder, Cassandra leads with clarity, collaboration, and a commitment to excellence. Her work reflects a deep dedication to health equity, workforce empowerment, and expanding access to compassionate, evidence-informed HIV care throughout North Carolina.
Ben Clack, BFA is passionate about equitable outcomes, improving access to care and quality improvement, and serves as the Program Coordinator for the team. Mr. Clack has a BFA in Design from UNC-Greensboro and spent a large portion of his professional career in creative disciplines as a graphic designer, printmaker and poster artist. He has been working in HIV Education since 2017, first entering the HIV workforce designing clinical tools and posters, and later applied his technical background into optimizing registration and data collection systems. You’ll often find him hosting our trainings.