LaRon Nelson, PhD

Professor Nelson serves as Associate Dean of Global Affairs and Planetary Health at the Yale School of Nursing, as well as the Director of Justice, Community Capacity & Equity in the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at the Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Nelson’s domestic and international research investigates the implementation and effectiveness of multi-level intervention strategies to reduce race and sexuality-based disparities in HIV outcomes. He is recognized as the world’s leading authority on the application of self- determination theory for HIV prevention and care. His research also involves identifying interventions to address intersectional stigma at the organizational level and treating the traumatic effects of intersectional stigma that manifests at the individual-level. He co-founded the Central and West Africa Implementation Science Alliance (CAWISA)—a collaboration of implementation scientists and implementing agencies from Cameroon, Congo, Ghana and Nigeria aimed to improve HIV related outcomes among adolescents the region. He is also leading implementation science efforts to reduce racial disparities in HIV incidence, treatment and viral suppression among African, Caribbean, and Black communities in Canada. His work in the US focuses on the use of multi-level (e.g., social/structural, behavioral, and clinical) interventions to reduce HIV infections among Black MSM.