Dirk A. Davis
Global Health Instructor
Appointment:
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Dirk A. Davis
Global Health Instructor
Dr. Dirk A. Davis is a Global Health Instructor and faculty member in the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research (CHPIR), the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), and the Duke Sexual and Gender Minority Wellness Program (DSGMWP). He is a behavioral scientist and mixed methodologist whose research focuses on improving the health of sexual and gender minority communities in Latin America and the US by reducing HIV, mental health, and violence disparities through community-engaged behavioral interventions.
Dr. Davis completed his MPH and PhD in Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health. Before starting his current position, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of California Global Health Institute (D43TW009343) and in the Duke Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in AIDS (T32AI007392). His postdoctoral research examined the role of sexual minority stress on mental health and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) engagement among gay and bisexual men in Guatemala.
He has worked in Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean in collaboration with various governmental, academic, and community-based organizations to improve the overall health and wellbeing of LGBTQ communities since 2010, including nearly five years where he lived and worked in Guatemala with the US Peace Corps.
Projects
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Adapting LGBTQ-Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to improve mental health and PrEP engagement among gay and bisexual men in Guatemala
Guatemala
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Sexual minority stress, mental health, and PrEP engagement among Indigenous gay and bisexual men in Guatemala: Preparing for a pilot intervention
Guatemala
Publications
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Davis DA, Muessig KE, Matthews DD, Angeles G, McNaughton-Reyes L, Guzmán K, et al. 'She showed me a new path, a way forward': exploring how navigation influences mental health among Guatemalan gay and bisexual men living with HIV. Health promotion international. 2023 Aug;38(4):daab188.Davis DA, Duarte G, Villatoro D, Letona P, Barrington C, Wheeler J. Interpersonal violence victimisation, HIV-related behaviours and STIs among adult, urban Indigenous and non-Indigenous gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Guatemala. Culture, health & sexuality. 2022 Nov;24(11):1531–47.Beltrán LF, Davis DA, Barrington C, Castro M, Pérez D. 'I did not get this disease on the street; it was brought home as a gift': Gender, violence and HIV vulnerability among Cuban women. Culture, health & sexuality. 2022 Aug;24(8):1107–21.Davis DA, Orellana ER, Estrada-Villalta S, Brouwer KC. COVID-19, violence, and mental health among Indigenous gay and bisexual men in Guatemala: An urgent call from key stakeholders. Global public health. 2022 May;17(5):652–61.
See more publications at Scholars@Duke