Dr. Aguayo-Romero (they/them) is a Research Scientist at the Whitman-Walker Institute. They completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Transgender Health Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, with affiliations at Harvard Medical School and the Fenway Institute. They are the co-chair of the joint task force of the American Psychological Association’s Division 44 and the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity revising the Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People. They are a clinical-psychologist by training and their research focuses on understanding how intersectional experiences of discrimination faced by gender, sexual, ethno-racial, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups impact health overall. Their research examines risk behaviors and health disparities—with an emphasis on HIV—using epidemiologic quantitative methods and principles of Participatory Action Research. They draw from systems approaches that apply modified social-ecological models, intersectionality, and syndemics frameworks. They are establishing a research agenda addressing health disparities among Latinx sexual and gender minorities in the Americas starting with the United States, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. They are the PI of the following grants: 

• K01 grant funded by NIMH (K01MH134764) “Intersectional discrimination and linkage to HIV prevention and care in transgender women in Ecuador”

• NIH CFAR supplement award “Developing a community-driven HIV research agenda to guide DC CFAR’s expansion in DC’s highest-burden neighborhoods: Needs assessment with four high priority populations”

• HU CFAR developmental award "Optimizing biobehavioral HIV prevention for Latina transgender women in the eastern and southern US: An intersectional mixed-methods study”