Karen Lugo PhD, MPH

Dr. Karen Nieves-Lugo was a research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the Latino Health Research Center at George Washington University. Her research concentrates on the psychosocial and behavioral factors relevant to HIV/AIDS and sexual risk among Latino sexual and gender minorities. She also studies the role of cultural, social, psychological, and behavioral risk factors in HIV health outcomes, adherence to HIV treatments, and functional disabilities among older people living with HIV. At CSR, she was a divisional Scientific Review Officer (SRO) in the Division of AIDS, Behavioral and Population Sciences (DABP) where she had the opportunity to work with different Integrated Review Groups (IRGs) and peer-review initiatives.

Dr. Nieves-Lugo received her B.S. in industrial microbiology from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus. She earned her M.P.H. in public health biostatics from the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus; received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus; and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Latino Health Research Center at The George Washington University.

Her graduate and postgraduate work included examining clinical conditions associated with environmental exposures in two communities in Puerto Rico, antiretroviral adherence among Latino sexual and gender minorities, and examining the role of psychosocial factors such as depression, self-perception of aging on functional limitations, and frailty.