Liesl Nydegger

Liesl Nydegger, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her work focuses on HIV prevention, particularly among communities of color, transgender individuals, and non-binary populations. She holds a PhD (2015) and MPH (2011) from Claremont Graduate University. Additional training includes a Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship (2012-2013) in South Africa and a National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Research Interests: Dr. Nydegger’s research employs a socioecological framework to examine sexual health disparities, including HIV prevention, structural barriers to PrEP adoption, and the impact of syndemics (e.g., substance use, intimate partner violence). She also investigates intersectional stigma affecting African American communities during dual epidemics like HIV and COVID-19.

Awards & Recognition: She has received multiple accolades, including the Delta Omega Honorary Society (2018), APHA Women’s Caucus Award (2017), and a Best Paper Award (2009). Her work emphasizes community-based participatory research and policy-relevant interventions.

Grants & Collaborations: Projects include NIH-funded studies on PrEP marketing strategies for Black cisgender women, HIV/STI self-testing interventions, and gender equity integration in research in low- and middle-income countries. She has mentored students in mixed-methods research on Black women’s health and HIV stigma.

Labs/Teams: Active in the Gender Equity Unit at Johns Hopkins, focusing on structural interventions to address health inequities. Collaborates with global health institutions like the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa and the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Center for AIDS Intervention Research.