People
Kristi E Gamarel
Research Associate Professor; Training Faculty
John G Searle Assistant Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education, Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity, School of Public Health and Research Associate Professor, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research
John G Searle Assistant Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education, Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity, School of Public Health and Research Associate Professor, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research
Research Interests:
Kristi Gamarel (she/her) is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Equity at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and a Research Associate Professor at the Population Studies Center. Her research focuses on addressing health inequities among LGBTQ+ communities in the context of HIV, mental health, substance use, safety, and access to affirming healthcare. She uses community-based participatory research principles, and her work integrates qualitative, survey, and mixed-methods approaches to understand and address multilevel determinants of health. She also mentors graduate students and early-career scholars as they develop independent research programs focused on structural and social drivers of health inequities.
Select Publications
- Arjee Javellana Restar, Kristi E Gamarel, Don Operario. 2026. The Uncontrolled Policy Experiment On Trans Children And Youth. Health Affairs Forefront February 17, 2026
- Kristi E Gamarel, Jadwin-Cakmak, Laura, Correll-King, Wesley M., Trammell, Racquelle, Abad, Julisa, Harris, Harmony, Ward, Latrice, Ubong, Ini-Abasi, Reyes, Lilianna, Connolly, Maureen, Harper, Gary W., Neilands, Torsten B.. 2025. Latent transition analysis of time-varying cannabis use motives to inform adaptive interventions. Psychology of Violence 15(4):435-447.
- Kristi E Gamarel, Stein, Ellen S., Correll-King, Wesley M., McCree, Breonna, Johnson, Jack, Pollack, Lance M., Neilands, Torsten B., Johnson, Mallory O., Operario, Don, Sevelius, Jae M.. 2025. A Cautionary Tale: Digital Clinical Trial Implementation of a Couples-Based HIV Prevention Study among Transgender Women and Their Partners in the United States. AIDS and Behavior 29:37-44.
- Wesley Correll-King, Crifasi, Cassandra, Kristi E Gamarel. 2025. A scoping review of empirical research on firearms and firearm violence among sexual and gender minority populations in the United States. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 59(1)
- Kristi E Gamarel, Correll-King, Wesley M., Jadwin-Cakmak, Laura, Abad, Julisa, Kaplan, Jay, Needham,Belinda L, Restar, Arjee J.. 2025. Intersectional structural oppression as a fundamental cause: Reflections on implementing a medical-legal partnership project. Health Psychology 44(3):285-290.
- DeAtley, Teresa, Baker, Abby, Denlinger-Apte, Rachel, Ogunbajo, Adedotun, Martinez, Ursula, Ceballos, Rachel, Wetter, David W, Operario, Don, Kershaw, Trace, Kristi E Gamarel, Restar, Arjee. 2025. Assessing Tobacco Harm Perceptions among Transgender and Nonbinary Adults: Results from a Community Informed State-wide Survey. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 27(11):2053–2062.
- Arjee Javellana Restar, Ruby Lucas, Scout NFN, Ash B. Alpert, Amanda Phipps, Grace Wang, Don Operario, Asa Radix, Leigh Ann van der Merwe, Sara Lindström, Avery Everhart, Kristi E Gamarel, Carl G. Streed Jr. 2025. Underinvested, Under-Referred, and Underserved: Applying a Gender Equity Continuum Framework in Cancer Control Continuum Programs and Policies to Expand to Transgender and Nonbinary Populations. JCO Oncology Advances 2(1)
- Arjee Javellana Restar, Carlos E Rodriguez-Diaz, Aaron S Breslow, Wesley Correll-King, Trace Kershaw, Don Operario, Kristi E Gamarel. 2025. Reinforcing social safety for transgender and non-binary communities amidst global legislative threats. The Lancet
- Kristi E Gamarel, Operario, Don, Stein, Ellen S., Pollack, Lance M., Neilands, Torsten B., McCree, Breonna, Johnson, Jack, Correll-King, Wesley M., Olem, David, Johnson, Mallory O., Sevelius, Jae M.. 2025. Randomized Controlled Trial of a Couples-Based HIV Intervention for Transgender Women and Their Partners: Findings from the “It Takes Two” Project. AIDS and Behavior
- Arjee J. Restar , Kristi E Gamarel, Don Operario . 2025. Gender Affirmation Research Is Not Gender Ideology Extremism, It Is Science. American Journal of Public Health