Recap of the 2025 Annual New York State Hepatitis C and Drug User Health Conference

On September 9th, CEI hosted its first in-person conference dedicated to hepatitis C and drug user health. A group of New York State-based clinicians met in Catskill for a full day agenda focused on (1) integrating wellness into clinical practice as a way to improve patient care and outcomes, and (2) innovative decision- making frameworks to help clinicians navigate complex scenarios in the absence of strong formal evidence, like clinical guidelines and peer reviewed studies. This episode of “Conversations with CEI” features conference planner and facilitator Taylor Edelmann – an educator and consultant working at the intersection of LGBTQIA+ health, drug user health and harm reduction – sharing his experience and insights about the day. Taylor currently oversees the Lighthouse Learning Collective at the National Harm Reduction Coalition, a program focused on supporting LGBTQIA+ harm reductionists and people who use drugs and engage in sex work. As one of the first openly transgender NCAA athletes, Taylor brings a deeply personal lens to his work advocating for gender-affirming care. He regularly provides clinical education and technical assistance to providers across the country, including Yale University and one of Connecticut’s largest federally qualified health centers, and recently presented at the 2025 Harm Reduction International Conference in Bogotá, Colombia. Taylor is also the co- creator of ChemSex Awareness Week, and the lead author of Gender Affirming Harm Reduction: A Toolkit for Syringe Service Programs, the first resource of its kind developed specifically for social service providers in harm reduction settings.  Related Content: 

• 2025 Annual NYS Hepatitis C and Drug User Health conference website: https://ceitraining.org/conference/conferences/3
• Lighthouse Learning Collective at the National Harm Reduction Coalition: https://harmreduction.org/our-work/action/lighthouse-learning-collective/
• Gender Affirming Harm Reduction: A Toolkit for Syringe Service Programs: https://lighthousetoolkit.my.canva.site/
• Narrative Medicine: https://www.aamc.org/news/narrative-medicine-every-patient-has-story
• Drug, Set, and Setting: The Basis for Controlled Intoxicant Use: https://southwestrecoveryalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Drug-Set-and-Setting-Zinberg-N-1.pdf

• CEI Clinical Consultation Line 1-866-637-2342 A toll-free service for NYS clinicians offering real-time clinical consultations with specialists on HIV, sexual health, hepatitis C, and drug user health.

• ceitraining.org