Speaker: Kristi Gamarel, University of Michigan

Seminar Date: 3/18/24

Love Her Collective: Developing and sustaining a community-academic partnership to address HIV inequities among transgender women of color in Detroit

Transgender women of color have a long history of organizing, activism, and service to sustain their communities under hostile social, political, and economic conditions. However, research efforts to address the health inequities these communities face often fail to ensure transgender women of color have meaningful leadership roles throughout the entire research process. The “Love Her Collective” is a community-academic partnership between Trans Sistas of Color Project-Detroit (TSoCP) and researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health formed around the needs, interests, and priorities of transgender women of color in Detroit. Over the past 6 years, the Love Her Collective has conducted several projects to identify and address social determinants of HIV inequities in this community. This presentation will describe community-led projects addressing violence and trauma, legal barriers to legal gender affirmation, and economic vulnerability. It will focus on the ethics and benefits surrounding community leadership in health equity research and include concrete recommendations for population health researchers working with populations frequently excluded and marginalized by academic research.

Kristi E. Gamarel (she/her) is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She has a background in social and personality psychology with additional training in health psychology and public health. Her program of research focuses on LGBTQ+ health, with a particular focus on using CBPR principles to understand and address health inequities.