J. Wesley Thompson,

Wesley Thompson has practiced medicine for more than 35 years and opened Amity Medical Group in Charlotte, North Carolina, with three locations. He provides care to the HIV/AIDS population and the LGBTQ community of Mecklenburg County and surrounding counties; this includes 1,000 HIV patients, 400 trans patients, and more than 600 PrEP patients.

He is a board-certified physician assistant, the first physician assistant to be certified as an HIV specialist in North Carolina, and one of the first in the United States. He has co-investigated in more than 60 clinical trials for new medications to treat HIV. He speaks English, Spanish, and American Sign Language, and he lectures locally, statewide, and nationally at medical conferences, to patient groups and provider groups. He served as guest lecturer and adjunct professor at Davidson University, Duke University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Central Piedmont Community College, Wake Forest University and Wingate University, and he serves as a speaker for the National Ryan White Action Campaign.

He is the co-chair of the Southeast Chapter of American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM), serves on the North Carolina HMAP provider committee, and is the co-chair of the Getting to Zero and PrEP Initiative for Mecklenburg County. He is currently involved in community research for vulnerable populations and PrEP. He has served on the North Carolina AIDS Action Network (NCAAN) board of directors, the board of directors for Carolinas CARE ASO, and he served on the board of directors for the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN), the AIDSWALK committee for six years. He was the medical co-chair of the Quality Management Ryan White Committee for Mecklenburg County, 2012-2014. He also served as co-chair of the Mecklenburg County Commissioners HIV Task Force.

He received his Bachelor of Art degree at Wake Forest in 1982 and received his Bachelor of Health Science and Physician Assistant degree at Duke in 1987. He earned his Master in Health degree at Duke in 1991.

Wesley received the 2005 www.TheBody.com HIV Leadership Award for his work in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 2008, he was granted the Distinguished Service Award by RAIN, and in 2009, he was awarded the Outstanding Service Award by the Metrolina AIDS Project. That same year, he received the Distinguished Fellow Award from the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). In 2016, North Carolina awarded him for his efforts in promoting long-term survivorship, and he was selected to be one of the Poz 100 for outstanding work in the field of HIV/AIDS that same year. He also received the Mayoral Proclamation in 2016 for his work in HIV/AIDS. In 2017, he received the Carolinas CARE Community Collaboration Award. In 2021, Wesley was awarded outstanding PA in HIV Care by POCN.

He attends St. Peter’s Episcopal Church where he has served as a eucharistic minister. Wesley and the love of his life and spouse, Trey Owen, recently celebrated 36 years together. They live in Charlotte, North Carolina, with their two dogs, Astro and Jackson.