I am a social scientist and researcher specializing on the social conditions affecting the health of vulnerable populations (e.g., transgender individuals, people living with HIV, female inmates). My research interests are related to trans necropolitics, structural and institutional violence, stigma in health care provision, gender and sexuality, and disaster management in impoverish contexts.
I was the Executive Director of the Puerto Ricoâs Commission for the Prevention of Violence and the past president of the Psychological Association of Puerto Rico. During the past years, I worked as a professor and coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Public Health specializing on social determinants of health located at the University of Puerto Ricoâ Medical Sciences Campus.
I have publications in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes; published six books; and participated extensively in academic forums in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe while disseminating my work. I have received multiple research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NICHD, NIDA, NIMH, NIA and NCI). In addition, I have received funding from the Center for HIV Prevention Studies at the University of California in San Francisco, the Family Services Department of Puerto Rico, the Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network, and Puerto Ricoâs Health Department.