Juno Obedin-Maliver, MD, MPH, MAS is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Juno graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine in 2010. While at Stanford, Juno maintained a focus on promoting social justice in medicine. Juno was honored with The Kaiser Permanente eQuality Scholarship for service to the LGBTQ community as well as the Markowski Leach Memorial Scholarship for LGBT Activism & Leadership.

Combined with a strong focus on women’s health, Juno continued her dedication to advancing LGBT health initiatives while completing her clinical residency in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 2014 and a Fellowship in Women’s Health and Clinical Research at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 2016.

While at UCSF, she has been honored with the San Francisco General Hospital Julius R. Krevans Award for Community Service and The UCSF Chancellor’s Award for GLBT Leadership. During her residency, Juno was active in health policy to expand reproductive possibilities in California and in efforts to remove national Medicare Non-Coverage Determination ruling on “transsexual surgery.” She is also on the Medical Advisory Board of the UCSF Center of Excellence for Transgender Health.

Juno is enthusiastically combining her interests in research, advocacy, and medicine to design and conduct The PRIDE Study and expand community engagement with research through PRIDEnet. Additional clinical, research, and advocacy activities include the gynecological and obstetrical health of transgender men and women and the health of veterans.

Stanford Medicine Bio Page

Mahri Bahati, MPH is a creative and passionate public health professional with extensive experience across the HIV/AIDS continuum of care, including anti-retroviral medication access, HIV prevention and surveillance, harm reduction, and community mobilization. Most recently she worked for the Global Forum on MSM and HIV as Public Health Advisor where she developed and managed a global capacity building project to facilitate organizational development and build self-sustainability for trans-led organizations throughout the global south. Her professional interests include sexual and gender minority health equity, HIV treatment adherence, PrEP access, and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

Mahri earned her Master of Public Health degree at the University of Kentucky in 2013, with a focus in Epidemiology. As an undergrad she began volunteering with local HIV/AIDS non-profits which sparked a professional interest in public health along with a lifelong interest in volunteering and community organizing.

Mahri is excited to join the PRIDE team, where she will work to engage 'yet to be reached' sexual and gender minority sub-communities who are new to health research, who have experienced barriers in accessing healthcare, or who have had negative research experiences.

Alexis Ceja is currently an assistant clinical research coordinator working with Dr. Annesa Flentje at the University of California, San Francisco. Alexis works on several projects investigating the effects of intersectionality on sexual and gender minority (SGM) health disparities. Alexis’s goal is to pursue a career in nursing and continue investigating the effects of intersectional stigma and minority stress on health disparities and ways to reduce these disparities within SGM communities, particularly those of color. Outside of their research, they volunteer with Científico Latino, a program aimed at increasing the diversity of graduate school applicants and STEM professionals. Alexis is very excited to join The PRIDE Study and work towards reducing health disparities among our diverse SGM communities.

Zubin Dastur, MS, MPH, is the LGBTQ Digital Clinical Research Manager of The PRIDE Study in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Zubin joins PRIDE with 14 years of clinical research management experience. He is honored and humbled to be part of such an impactful and important endeavor to help underrepresented, underreported, and underserved LGBTQ populations that have been historically known to be stigmatized, ostracized, and victimized.

Zubin believes in promoting health and wellbeing through cutting-edge, evidence-based empirical research. At Columbia School of Social Work, he worked with disenfranchised and low-income families by implementing socially-driven prevention trials in New York. At Weill Cornell Medicine, he helped introduce survey technology in HIV/AIDS community-based hospital clinics in Queens and the Bronx. He managed multiple therapeutic trials that offered innovative therapies for all subtypes of breast cancer at Yale School of Medicine (Comprehensive Cancer Center) and Yale-New Haven Hospital. He has also managed multi-million-dollar NIH/NCI-funded, pharmaceutical-sponsored, and investigator-initiated trials at New York University (Cardiology) and University of Hawaii (Oncology). Zubin has been trained in providing culturally-responsive care for transgender and gender non-binary communities at Harvard School of Medicine.

Zubin earned a Master of Science (MS) degree in Health Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences from the University of Alabama Birmingham. He hopes to get his PhD in LGBTQ Studies in the future to reduce healthcare inequities and health disparities among sexual, gender, and racial minority and marginalized populations.

In his spare time, Zubin loves to lounge on a beach, try different cuisines, travel to Paris, and incessantly watch British comedies. He comes to Stanford from Kaiser Permanente Hawai’i where he learned the importance of Social Work, and hopes to spread the Hawaiian principles of aloha (love), mahalo (thankfulness), and ho’ihi (respect).

Orlando O. Harris, PhD, RN, FNP, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Nursing in the Department of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Prevention Science in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. His research focuses on the exploration of risk and protective factors in sexual and gender diverse communities of color. He also focuses on understanding the relationships between intersectional stigma, violence, mental health, HIV, and other health-related behavior outcomes. Dr. Harris leverages multi-methods data, using community-based participatory research methods, to inform culturally relevant interventions that improves the lives of vulnerable sexual and gender diverse communities. His research aims to reduce disparities in health within these communities by developing programs that improve self-efficacy and promote resilience.

Ell Hundertmark values utilizing research to advocate for underserved populations, instill systemic social change, and subvert harmful, misinformed narratives surrounding stigmatized groups. They have learned, through their past experience working with and for underserved populations, the importance of integrity when conducting impactful, action-oriented research, and seek to implement this further as a member of PRIDEnet and in future applied work. 

While working toward their undergrad degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Ell participated in community-based action research on psychosocial factors affecting LGBTQ+ mental health, access to quality mental health care and trans/nonbinary affirming therapy, and evidence-based methods to teaching about equity and diversity. They also assisted in conducting research on the intersections of race, gender, and social values in fields of computing and how the workplace environment can influence epistemic hierarchies in cultures of tech.

Ell aspires to be a resource for queer love and marginal experience. They are excited to join PRIDEnet as the LGBTQ+ Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator to further actualize this, build resilience within their community, and employ liberatory praxis in their day-to-day life.

Nadra Lisha, PhD, MA is a biostatistician at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of General Internal Medicine at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education (CTCRE). Her research focuses on the use of sophisticated statistical methods for addressing problems common in addiction-related research, including tobacco, missing data, comorbid conditions, and multiple drug use. She is an active collaborator, consultant, and co-author with numerous investigators, post-doctoral fellows, and other trainees primarily at UCSF and Stanford. As a methodologist and statistician, a great deal of my published work typically comes from a group science approach with all publications including multiple co-authors. Her role is typically as a quantitative methodologist, and helping the planning and design of studies, monitoring of data collection and assurance of the quality of the data. She also serves as a mentor to postdocs and others when performing data management and routine and non-routine analyses, and to directly perform novel or advanced statistical analyses. Since 2020, Nadra has worked on The PRIDE Study at Stanford.

Sal Mancuso is an experienced data engineer who joins The PRIDE Study as the LGBTQ+ Digital Health Research Data Engineer. Sal spent nearly seven years with Stanford University's Graduate School of Business (GSB), most recently leading the data engineering unit within the Data, Analytics, and Research Computing (DARC) team. The DARC team engages directly with Ph.D. students, researchers, and faculty members, preparing large-scale datasets, assisting with data analysis, and consulting research design. Before joining Stanford, Sal worked for several technology companies, including Apple Computer, Tivo (formally Rovi), and Sun Microsystems (now ORACLE), where he leveraged both his fondness for data and his passion for coding. Sal is eager to practice his data craft to elevate the adoption and impact of The PRIDE Study.

Daniel Moretti, MSc has more than fifteen years of experience working at the cross sections of community engagement, social justice, research, and non-profit arts in diverse locations including San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, London (UK), and Cebu (Philippines). He is excited to apply his passion for centering intersectional storytelling and lived experience to his role with PRIDEnet.

Prior to joining PRIDEnet, Daniel was Program Manager and Interim Manager at the County of Santa Clara Office of LGBTQ Affairs, the first ever county office of its kind established in the nation. In this position he focused on policy, programs, and research to support LGBTQ+ communities to thrive, including playing a lead role for one of the largest local studies with LGBTQ+ older adults. At Frameline, he was Director of Distribution and Educational Programming and oversaw a national education program that developed LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum and partnered with more than 1,400 middle and high schools. Through his tenure as National Community Engagement Manager at ITVS, Daniel spearheaded more than a dozen national film-based campaigns focused on social issues such as racial justice, LGBTQ+ equity, homelessness, and more.

Daniel holds a BA in Visual and Media Arts with a minor in Gender Studies from Emerson College, and an MSc in Gender, Media, and Culture from the London School of Economics where he conducted primary research within queer film festival audience studies. In his personal time, he likes to watch and chat about the latest in LGBTQ+ film and television, travel, and feed his passion for fashion.

Ari Pefley is excited to support community-engaged research as a LGBTQ+ Operations/Administrative Specialist with PRIDEnet. As a student of Stanford University, Ari studied Sociology with a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality studies. They served as teaching assistant for the Sociology department and a research assistant to help study demographic survey measures for LGBTQ+ populations. Between classes, they interned for the San Francisco LGBT Center and the Djerassi Resident Artists’ Program. For their honors thesis research, they interviewed transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming folks to better understand how these groups applied gender and sexual identity labels to themselves. The resulting paper was awarded the Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo Prize in the Social Sciences. 

Prior to working with PRIDEnet, Ari worked with the queer ensemble theater company Eye Zen Presents as an Associate Communications Manager. Ari’s other passions include theater, studying Yiddish, sculpture, painting, and campy films. Looking toward the future, their ultimate goal is to pursue a PhD in Sociology and become a social researcher and community-engaged scholar.

Ana Rescate, MBA brings deep expertise in multimedia and community affairs to The PRIDE Study, drawing from her experience in various communication roles throughout her career. 

In her free time, she volunteers on the leadership council team for Somos Familia, an organization founded by two moms from the East Bay, who wanted to create support and acceptance for Latina/o/x lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning youth and their families. She is also a graduate of Equality California’s 2019 Leadership Academy in Northern California. In 2020, she joined the California Board of Psychology as an appointee of Governor Gavin Newsom.

A resident of the Bay Area, Ms. Rescate believes that all people have a right to be themselves without fear, and this philosophy is a through- line in all her roles. The credence that people deserve to tell their own stories underpins Ms. Rescate’s work. She strongly believes that each of us deserves to tell our own stories. As a queer WOC, she recognizes that her voice is her power and does what she can to empower others to use theirs. She earned her Master of Business Administration in marketing from Baker College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film and television from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. 

Gowri Sunder is currently the clinical research coordinator on Dr. Annesa Flentje's team in UCSF's Community Health System and a candidate for a Master's of Design in Interaction Design at California College of the Arts. Gowri's research interests include the impact of chronic stressors on health and the design of health systems. She is also passionate about the intersection of technology and health, particularly how it can be leveraged to make healthcare more accessible and equitable. 

Diana M. Tordoff, PhD, MPH is an epidemiologist, methodology nerd, and queer and transgender health equity researcher. Diana holds a PhD and MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Washington and a BA in Mathematics and Economics from Vassar College. Prior to joining The PRIDE Study, she was awarded an NIH Kirschstein National Research Service Fellowship for her doctoral dissertation, which examined the heterogeneity in HIV/STI prevalence, testing, and PrEP use among transgender and non-binary people and their partners in the US. Diana's interests include barriers and facilitators of healthcare access for LGBTQ+ communities, sexual and reproductive health, HIV/STI prevention, sexual orientation & gender identity (SOGI) measurement, phylogenetics and molecular epidemiology, and community-engaged research methods.

JT Williams, BA, also known as German Chocolate was born in Heidelberg, Germany, and then moved to American in the early 90s.  As he grew up in the church, he learned the importance of working to build lasting and impactful relationships. This resulted in the development of people and compassion skills for helping people from all walks of life.

As a graduate of East Carolina University, he has been working in the Health Education and Promotion field for over 15 years and in the Human Health and Service field for the past 20 years.  Resulting in the title of a Health Advocate for Improved Quality of Health for all.

JT’s goal is to enrich the quality of life for all communities and beyond through his creative and charismatic personality. With his wide array of networks, resources, and community relations. The impact he is leaving is on a global scale.

Live and in charge, German Chocolate is good for the heart. Stay tuned for all of the latest updates from this agent of change as he works to unite the communities and create change for generations to come.

Loree Cook-Daniels, FORGE’s Policy and Program Director, has helped design and co-facilitate FORGE’s multiple in-person and virtual support groups, research studies, and programs since 2000. She has been involved in advocacy, research, training, and services for LGBT populations since 1975, and is nationally-known for her writing, training, and policy work on LGBT aging, trauma and trauma recovery, and transgender issues. She co-chairs the Policy Committee of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs and serves on the National LGBT Aging Roundtable. Cook-Daniels holds a B.A. in women’s studies and history, an M.S. in conflict management, and a post-graduate Certificate in trauma counseling.

Richard E. Greene is an Associate Professor of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Greene serves as the Faculty Director of Health Disparities Education at NYU School of Medicine through the Office of Diversity Affairs, and in this role oversees the inclusion of Bias, Diversity, Health Disparities, and LGBTQ topics into the culture and curriculum of NYU’s medical center and educational programs. An active and passionate medical educator, Dr. Greene is also an Associate Program Director of the Primary Care Residency Program and presents extensively on many Primary Care topics including the musculoskeletal physical exam, foundations of primary care medicine and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender healthcare disparities. He also serves as an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine/Primary Care Residency Program where he teaches on general primary care topics, musculoskeletal medicine, bias, and health disparities. Dr. Greene is the Medical Director for the Pride Health Center at NYC H+H/Bellevue Hospital. Dr. Greene also lectures on a national scale on the topic of LGBTQ Health Care Disparities and Transgender Health. Dr. Greene serves as the Medical Director of the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies (CHIBPS) through NYU’s Global Institute of Public Health. He also serves on the Board of Directors of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality.

Tari Hanneman is the Director of the Health Equality Project at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In this role she oversees the annual LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) and other projects related to LGBTQ health and aging.

Tari has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, primarily focused in the areas of health and women’s issues. Prior to joining HRC, she served as the initial Director of The Women’s Fund of Winston-Salem where she led all aspects of developing The Fund’s programs and brand in the community. Prior to her move to North Carolina, she served in a number of roles at The California Endowment, one of the nation's largest health foundations. She has also worked for elected officials and non-profits focused on the environment, reproductive rights and HIV. She has a Master’s in Public Administration with an emphasis on Nonprofit Management from the University of Southern California, where she also did her undergraduate work.

Leveraging decades of experience, Shalonda Ingram is an innovator who embodies the mantra: Strategize. Design. Produce. 
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Shalonda is committed to cultivating collective consciousness and empowering communities to take actions that transform their circumstances. Shalonda has deployed worldwide to produce transformative experiences with artists, activists, and changemakers. Native to grassroots activism, Shalonda serves social justice, spiritual, and corporate organizations to explore network effect and elevate opportunities for resource sharing. Shalonda influences existing structures to create collaborative environments for communities to thrive. Shalonda is honored to serve Queer+ Communities in the areas of arts presenting, wellness research, placemaking and enterprise development.

Joelle Maslak is employed as a network engineer for a streaming video company, where she is a leader for the Trans* employee resource group. She has over 20 years of neurodiversity advocacy experience, and is particularly interested in the intersection of gender and neurodiversity. She is also involved in AASPIRE (Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education) team. She co-founded and facilitates a peer support group for trans people on the spectrum. She is currently working towards a second degree in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Dr. Asa Radix is trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Connecticut, and also holds postgraduate qualifications in tropical medicine and public health. Previously Dr. Radix held the position of Associate Medical Director at Callen-Lorde. In addition to having a clinical practice (HIV primary care and transgender health), Asa coordinates electives in LGBT health for medical and nursing students and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at NYU and Yale.

Dr. Radix is of West Indian origin and has a special interest in the needs of LGBT populations of immigrant status. For 7 years, Asa was the director of a public health department in the Netherlands Antilles and assisted in the development of insular strategic plans for HIV prevention as well as federal guidelines for communicable disease prevention. Other positions prior to Callen-Lorde have included being the medical director at the University of Hartford, serving a population of 5,000 undergraduates under 24 years of age and being an infectious disease specialist in private practice in West Hartford, Connecticut. A major focus of Dr. Radix’ work has been the development and dissemination of prevention, treatment and care guidelines for HIV+ and at-risk persons in the Caribbean including provision of LGBT cultural competency training to Caribbean healthcare providers.

Dr. Radix is an associate editor of Transgender Health and member of the editorial boards for the International Journal of Transgenderism and the PRN Notebook. Other contributions include being a consultant for the World Health Organization/PAHO on transgender health issues and the co-chair of the WHO/PAHO HIV/STI technical advisory committee. Dr. Radix is the site-PI/co-investigator for 3 NIH/NIMH studies, including a demonstration project on PrEP.

Ramón Ramirez has been working with the community for over 25 years in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Ramón has worked with many communities such as: monolingual Spanish speaking, LGBTQI, African American, Transgender, homeless, drug user and other. With a long experience as an HIV testing and prevention counselor, clinical health educator, entertainer and activist in the community, Ramón has been able to experience firsthand the disparities these communities experience from both sides of the spectrum. Ramón works for a large medical provider company as a Clinical Health Educator helping patients by providing education on safer sex, PrEP, weight management, diabetes diagnosis and healthy habits among other topics. Ramón wants to bring to the table experience living as a gay Mexican American and active community member.

Javier Ríos was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is a New Mexican of diverse Irish, Mexican, and LGBTQ background. Javier joined UNM Truman Health Services in the Manzano School Based Health Center as the Health Educator in October 2016, bringing 11 years of non-profit and government experience focused in health equity, HIV/AIDS prevention, harm reduction, immigrant health, and cultural humility. In 2017 and 2013 Javier participated in the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission program Líderes a través de las Fronteras/Leaders across Borders addressing binational and border health. Since 2005 Javier has worked in HIV/AIDS prevention with LGBTQ+ communities of color focusing in community organizing, outreach, and education. His community recognitions include the 2013 Pride and Equality Vincent R. Johnson Models of Hope Award, the 2012 NMCPAG Kahlo Benavidez Leadership Award, and service as a 2012 HIV/AIDS Embajador/Ambassador for the National Latino AIDS Action Network at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. Currently Javier is the Communications Chair of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities Region VI Southwest RHEC, as well as the co-chair for the Immigrant Committee of the City of Santa Fe. Javier earned his M.A. in Spanish: Southwest Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2005 where he taught Spanish as a Heritage Language. Javier received his B.A. from Creighton University in 2001. Javier is excited to be a part of The PRIDE Study team that cultivates health awareness of our diverse LGBTQ+ communities.

Kara Sprague (she/her) is the Director of Strategy & Impact at SAGE, the nation’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT+ older adults, where she has worked since 2014. In this role, Kara is responsible for implementation and measurement of SAGE’s Strategic Plan, providing consultation on program evaluation and impact assessment across the organization, and promotion of a data-informed culture. Prior to SAGE, Kara worked in a variety of program evaluation and implementation roles across HIV services and international development. Kara has a B.A. in Sociology from American University and an M.S.W. from Fordham University.

Xia, a celestial Being brought to this planet by the womb of a Goddess, identifies as a data collector and pattern enthusiast. A former community organizer, they have worked across intersecting issues such as immigrant rights, gender justice, LGBTQAI youth rights and advocacy, environmental justice, and racial justice. Xia, an interdisciplinary scientist, is driven by their insatiable curiosity and obsessed with the interconnectedness of all things, i.e. the ways societal and cultural norms (infused into laws, policy, and procedures) impact a person’s entire Being and overall wellness (mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and physical). They are currently investigating the values of health-related research methods and their impact on the communities studied; while simultaneously reimaging how research is defined, the research questions are derived, the methods are chosen, and the study is conducted and why. They have a B.A. in Science in Society with a minor in Chemistry from Wesleyan University.

Bria Brown-King uses they and she pronouns and is a Black, queer, masculine-presenting, non-binary, and intersex person. Bria works as the Director of Engagement for interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth. Bria got their start in intersex advocacy in 2018 as a Youth advocate, and in 2019 they became the first openly intersex person to speak about intersex issues on the steps of the Supreme Court. Bria now serves on multiple advisory boards, representing intersex people both nationally and internationally.

Raisa S. Negrón earned a BA in Psychology from Eastern Connecticut State University. She has spent the majority of her career as a sexuality educator teaching and improving the sexual health needs of many individuals working with non-profits, private sector and as a consultant. With 20 years of experience, Raisa shares that body image, sexual expression, including our overall health are inter- connected and an integral part of who we are. Acknowledging our individual culture plays a role, too. When these are in alignment, and we have un-learned negative behaviors, we begin to feel more satisfaction with our bodies and ourselves. Raisa currently works in HIV prevention, specifically adolescent health, LGBTQ* youth, along with persons struggling with tobacco, alcohol, other substance misuse to improve their health outcomes. Raisa speaks Spanish, is a qualified medical interpreter and trainer in the healthcare industry.

Hanh Nguyen was born and raised in San Jose, California. As the daughter of refugee parents, she experienced disparities in health and privilege which motivate her to pursue a career at the intersection of medicine, public health, and social justice. She attended the University of California Davis where she graduated with a BS in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior. She returned to San Jose to work in education, health engagement, and outreach among the community she grew up in. She is now gaining clinical experience while working as a scribe at a hospital and health center. In her free time, she practices yoga, reads, eats, and helps facilitate a community for queer Christians.

Miranda J. Stinson is a queer asexual woman living in New York City, where she has worked in book publishing for the last five years. She is a founding member of Disability in Publishing, a new organization that advocates for disabled employees in the industry, inspired by the work of organizations such as People of Color in Publishing and Latinx in Publishing. As a neurodivergent person who is also navigating chronic illness, Miranda is a fervent believer in making health education accessible so that disabled people can more confidently advocate for themselves in healthcare and research settings.

Miranda also has longstanding ties (though not by heritage) to the Irish community in New York, including serving on the organizing committee for the St. Pat’s for All Parade, NYC’s longest running LGBTQ-inclusive St. Patrick’s Day celebration. She’s excited to broaden her connections into working with other diaspora groups in the city as well.

Paul Vila is a freelance web developer and writer. He attended New College of Florida, where he graduated with a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies. His academic work has focused on marrying scientific literacy and in-depth understandings of sociopolitical structures with the goal of disassembling systemic injustices. With that in mind, much of his current activist work centers on outreach for LGBTQ+ health issues, with an emphasis on Latinx communities. 

SaVanna Wanzer has been a DC Trans advocate, HIV educator, and community volunteer for more than 25 years.  As the founder of Capital Trans Pride in 2007, she later started May Is?  All About Trans in 2018, a series of events celebrating, featuring, and loving transgender people. Designed to educate and build bridges across all communities, SaVanna has grown her vision to include organizations and individuals from across the country. During her many years of service, SaVanna was the first transgender woman to serve on the boards of Whitman-Walker Health and the Capital Pride Alliance. She has also served on the DC Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee, and started and maintained multiple peer mentoring programs. An active CAP member for NMAC & DCCFAR.  Among her many awards, 2019 she was one of Leon Harris’ NBC 4 Heroes and TAGG Magazine, she was recognized with DC’s Black Pride Unsung Hero Award in 2017, Whitman-Walker Legal’s Robert Fenner Urquhart Memorial Award in 2015, and Capital Pride’s Hero Award in 2008.  Retired from the federal government, SaVanna remains very active in her community and at Westminster Presbyterian Church in DC.  Her future goal to take May Is? “All About Trans” National level.

Jeffrey Worthington, known under his moniker "Jaycee Dubyuh", is the founder of the Gaymer Allied People of Color.  This movement has one simple mission: to build, house, and protect black and brown queer bodies as they intersect with normative spaces in technology and fandom.  Coupled with his decade of experience as a tournament and esports organizer, Jaycee continues to spread awareness of his brand and consult with those in need of guidance through the esports community.  As PRIDEnet becomes the latest addition, Jaycee extends a resume of being featured in interviews and panel discussions from several organizations and educational institutions. He looks forward to creating new avenues that will conjoin PRIDEnet with a unique gaming perspective that minorities will be certain to enjoy and learn from. 

Matthew (Matt) Capriotti, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at San Jose State University and a Research Associate in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Matt earned his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and he completed pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships at UCSF. Matt studies factors that promote resilience and wellbeing among sexual and gender minority people, with an emphasis on youth and young adults. He has a particular research interest in engaging young adults in evidence-based approaches to HIV prevention and treatment, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Matt also maintains an active line of research on the development, testing, and implementation of evidence-based behavioral interventions for young people with tic disorders (e.g., Tourette syndrome), other obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Matt is thrilled to be a part of The PRIDE Study's efforts to identify and end health disparities faced by sexual and gender minority communities.

Dave Glidden, PhD is a Professor of Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco with over 20 years of collaborations with investigators in HIV Treatment, HIV Prevention, Pediatrics and Neurology.

Mark Pletcher, MD, MPH is a Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). As an epidemiologist and a general internal medicine physician, his research is designed to inform clinical decision-making and policy. This work focuses on prevention of cardiovascular disease with particular interests in early life causes of atherosclerosis, primordial and primary coronary heart disease and stroke prevention, clinical decision-making regarding use of preventive medications (statins and anti-hypertensives), and screening for subclinical cardiovascular disease. He serves as a principal investigator for the Health eHeart Study, an online technology-enabled cardiovascular cohort study. Dr. Pletcher has specific expertise in study design, decision and cost-effectiveness analysis, risk prediction, and evaluating the clinical utility of biomarkers. He utilizes this expertise in his leading role with UCSF’s nationally recognized clinical research training programs by teaching clinical research methods as well mentoring students, fellows, and junior faculty members.

Branden Barger, MAS is the program coordinator for the UCSF Office of Diversity & Outreach LGBT and Multicultural Resource Centers where he provides program, curriculum, and graphic design assistance in the centers’ efforts to increase visibility and inclusion of marginalized and underrepresented students, staff, and faculty throughout the UCSF health system and its various health professions training programs. Branden holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Clinical Research from the UCSF School of Medicine Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Public Health. Branden partnered with The PRIDE Study as part of his graduate program to examine substance use health disparities and resiliencies among sexual and gender minorities and he continues to support these efforts as a volunteer research assistant with the Sexual and Gender Minority Health Equity Lab in the UCSF School of Nursing Department of Community Health Systems.

Daniel Beltre is a medical student at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn, New York. Daniel has a vibrant set of interests that involve the intersection of identity and healthcare. In medical school Daniel is committed to remodeling the curriculum to better represent sexual and gender minorities and is currently involved with the Brooklyn Free Health Clinic’s RISE program to provide psychosocially competent HIV and HCV counseling. Prior to medical school Daniel was involved with the MSF HIV and TB Policy Access Campaign. Daniel is very excited to be a part of The PRIDE Study and work towards broadening the clinical and cultural understanding of our LGBTQ+ community.

Hannah Bosley, MA is a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology at UC Berkeley. Hannah’s doctoral research aims to identify how an individual’s unique emotional patterns may relate to their experience of mental health or behavioral problems, by building person-specific statistical models to answer questions like: what emotions does an individual most need to regulate? How do we know when a particular emotion state will occur? What leads to change in these emotion states over time? Person-specific modeling can be particularly helpful in understanding the unique needs of minority communities that tend to be underrepresented in large population-based averages. Hannah is particularly passionate about applying these methods to better understand and serve the mental health needs of sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals. Hannah also works as a clinical interventionist with Dr. Annesa Flentje’s research team at UCSF, delivering a psychotherapeutic intervention designed to reduce minority stress and improve mental health in SGM individuals.

Victoria Bruno is an undergraduate student at San José State University majoring in Psychology. As an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, she joined The PRIDE Study to develop a greater understanding of the factors that contribute to the national scenario of health disparities faced by folks in sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities. As an aspiring psychologist, she hopes to learn from the data available, and from LGBTQ+ people’s experiences, in order to help advance all aspects of LGBTQ+ health and well-being.

Alexis Ceja is currently an assistant clinical research coordinator working with Dr. Annesa Flentje at the University of California, San Francisco. Alexis works on several projects investigating the effects of intersectionality on sexual and gender minority (SGM) health disparities. Alexis’s goal is to pursue a career in nursing and continue investigating the effects of intersectional stigma and minority stress on health disparities and ways to reduce these disparities within SGM communities, particularly those of color. Outside of their research, they volunteer with Científico Latino, a program aimed at increasing the diversity of graduate school applicants and STEM professionals. Alexis is very excited to join The PRIDE Study and work towards reducing health disparities among our diverse SGM communities.

Ethan Cicero, PhD, RN is an Assistant Professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar. Prior to joining Emory in August 2020, Dr. Cicero completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Biobehavioral Research Training in Symptom Science Program at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. He earned a PhD from the Duke University School of Nursing in 2018 and a BS in Nursing with Highest Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014. Their program of research is focused on evaluating the interrelationship between social inequities and the effects of adverse and affirming social conditions on the health and well-being of transgender populations, with a particular interest in methods used for transgender health research.

O. Winslow Edwards is a Master’s of Public Health student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC in the Social Inequities and Health concentration. Their research is focused on using strengths-based methodologies to explore community resilience for sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations, with particular attention to amplifying voices within the community that have been historically marginalized. Prior to starting their MPH, Winslow worked as a clinical research coordinator on HPV studies with people living with HIV in Louisiana. They were also involved in grassroots level organizing surrounding systemic racial inequities and SGM rights. In their free time, Winslow volunteers with SGM community organizations that are engaged in decreasing stigma towards HIV and Hepatitis C, as well as using harm-reduction approaches to sexual health and drug use.

Shane Lamba is a Health Science Specialist in the Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders (SCI/D) Center at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System. He works on a multidisciplinary team, where he serves as one of the exoskeleton trainers collecting data on how its usage with Veterans can help improve quality of life for those living with a SCI. Additionally, he has brought to his team at the SCI center, a rejuvenated need for LGBT centered health research, he is diligently working alongside collaborators in applying for funding to initiate qualitative research on topics related to health equity and disability.

He also serves as a member on the Cultural Competency committee for the VA SCI/D Center, working alongside clinicians to bring diversity and inclusion trainings regarding LGBT Veterans. Shane will be enrolled in the Fall as a Master's of Public Health graduate student at the University of New England, where he intends to focus on community health promotion and education. He is a Bay Area native, and enjoys being active outdoors and relaxing at the beach. Shane is super excited to be a part of The PRIDE Study, as he believes it will help broaden his skill sets working with community engaged research methodology and health equity.

Pip G. Lipkin, BA is a medical student at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University applying into OB/GYN. They came to medicine by way of studying English and Art History as an undergraduate and working in hospice, where they witnessed the power of care, attention, art and humanism in the practice of healing. In medical school they have focused efforts on making healthcare approachable and accessible through health education courses for incarcerated youth and folks experiencing chronic homelessness. Pip has also been dedicated to the advocacy and support of trans* and gender diverse (T/GD) medical students by founding a T/GD support group as well as creating a T/GD training for medical clerkship directors and coordinators to ensure T/GD medical students are supported in the clinical space. Their current research is at the intersection of family building, fertility preservation and the reproductive health needs of T/GD individuals. 

Daryl Mangosing, MPH is currently a graduate student in the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program at the University of California Berkeley (UCB), School of Public Health (SPH). Within the SPH Community, they serve as a Graduate Recruitment and Diversity Service (GRADS) Ambassador for the DREAM (Diversity Respect Equity Action Multiculturalism) Office. Prior, they have worked for over three and a half years at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and Prevention Research Center in the Division of Prevention Science at the University of California San Francisco, where they drove communication efforts and disseminated HIV prevention and public health research. 

 

Daryl’s research interests lie within the intersection of LGBTQ+ health disparities, community-engaged research, mixed-methods, public health discourse, and Critical Theory. For their doctoral studies, Daryl is interested in sexualized drug use (i.e., recreational or illicit drug use to facilitate and enhance sexual activity) and health outcomes among the sexual and gender diverse community in the context of HIV prevention. As a queer Filipino-American born and raised on the island of Guam, they pursued an independent major in health sciences at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky with a full-tuition scholarship in 2013. Afterwards, they attended Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated in 2015 with an MPH, concentrating in health communication.

Nicholas Panyanouvong is an undergraduate student at Stanford University who, although undeclared, is considering a major in mathematical and computational science or biomedical computation. As an aspiring MD/MPH, he is interested in investigating the relationship between genetic and environmental factors in determining health outcomes, particularly with respect to groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in medicine. Here at the PRIDE lab, I’m studying the epigenetic basis of minority stress in sexual and gender minorities, as well as the various ways that stress manifests itself in the body.

Outside of population health, my research interests include cognitive and behavioral science; at Stanford, Nicholas works with the O’Connell lab to study spatial navigation in amphibians. He also a patient health navigator at Pacific Free Clinic, and an advocate for disabled/neurodiverse individuals with the Stanford Neurodiversity Project. 

Sawye Raygani is an undergraduate student at Stanford University majoring in Human Biology and minoring in Psychology. She joined The PRIDE Study to better understand how social and cultural determinants of health impact mental health in sexual and gender minority populations and how to promote inclusivity in healthcare practices. On campus, she's involved in infectious disease and microbiome research and volunteers at Arbor Free Clinic as a Bridge to Care Counselor. In the future, she hopes to work at the intersection of public health and clinical medicine and contribute to meaningful research regarding marginalized communities in the healthcare system.

Ava Snow is an undergraduate student at Stanford studying Human Biology. She is from Bozeman, Montana, and began exploring her interest in LGBTQ+ health as a peer educator for a local sexual and reproductive healthcare clinic when she was in high school. On campus, she volunteers as a counselor at the Sexual Health Peer Resource Center, and as a Patient Health Navigator at Pacific Free Clinic. She is so excited to work with and learn from all of the incredible people who are involved with the Pride Study!

Brett Stark, is a resident physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco. His prior research has explored family building desire for LGBTQ+ youth, mostly working at the intersection of family building and fertility preservation for transgender and non-binary adolescents.  Currently, Brett is working with The PRIDE Study to develop clinical tools to better describe the sexual health and well-being of LGBTQ+ populations.

Leslie Suen, MD, is a primary care internist and Veterans Affairs Clinical Research Fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at UCSF. She completed her internal medicine training in the UC Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency program at UCSF, where she also completed medical school. Prior to medical school, she worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Tom Waddell Urban Health Clinic focusing on quality improvement work in safety-net settings. Her research focuses on using implementation science and community engagement to eliminate health disparities for underserved populations, including sexual and gender minority communities and individuals living with substance use disorders. Leslie is thrilled to be a part of The PRIDE Study to shine a light on the diverse needs of sexual and gender minority communities and improve the design of sexual orientation and gender identity questions.

Ellora Vilkin is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Stony Brook University. Her doctoral research focuses on understanding how close relationships impact health among people with diverse relationship structures and dynamics (e.g. consensual non-monogamy, kink/BDSM) and understudied sexual identities (e.g. bisexual, pansexual, and queer folks). Ellora is also involved in developing and testing evidence-based psychosocial interventions to improve relationship and mental health outcomes among sexual and gender minority people. 

Ellora received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with Honors in Nonfiction Writing from Brown University in 2014. Prior to graduate school, she became interested in social determinants of health while working at the San Francisco LGBT Center and Trans Employment Program, where she provided direct services to LGBTQ+ adults. Ellora has been involved with The PRIDE Study since 2017 and is honored to support its mission of engaging sexual and gender minority people in research to advance the health of our communities.

Ada is a medical student, writer, and community organizer who is interested in how community-based work incorporating the thoughtful and compassionate practice of medicine has the potential to address the systemic and structural inequities that affect communities decentered by white supremacy and cisheteropatriarchy in the US and abroad. In the past, they have worked extensively to elevate the voices of queer and trans A/API communities, decrease health inequities in the US and in Hong Kong, and research the role of implicit bias in racism. In the coming years, they hope to delve more deeply into research, policy, and organizing work focused on amplifying the experiences of queer and trans people of color around the world.

Matthew (Matta) Zheng is an undergraduate student at Stanford University, double majoring in Anthropology and Political Science with a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Prior to Stanford, he attended the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, where he led the campus LGBTQ+ activism group. Today, he is the founding coordinator of a queer interfaith spirituality group at Stanford's Queer Student Resources (QSR) and Office of Religious Life (ORL) while counseling patients and developing a comprehensive LGBTQ+ healthcare system at Pacific Free Clinic. Academically, Matthew's research has focused on the political economy of neoliberalism at Stanford's Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences with Professor Margaret Levi. His interests lie in community health, intertwining social justice and medicine, and in uplifting his queer communities in any way possible. Outside of work, he loves being a drag artist, cooking, and playing the steelpan. In the future, Matthew aspires to complete an MD/MPP with particular emphasis on health policymaking. He joins PRIDELab research after serving a year as the Undergraduate Assistant at The PRIDE Study, and is so excited to work closely in SGM/LGBTQ+ health research.