Kathryn Macapagal, PhD is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine with appointments in Medical Social Sciences (Implementation Science), Medical Social Sciences (Intervention Science), and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in health psychology and serving LGBTQ individuals and people living with HIV/AIDS. Her research focuses on translational, social-behavioral and implementation science approaches to improve the health and wellbeing of sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents and young adults. She employs online, technology-based, and community-engaged research methods to understand sexual health and HIV prevention needs of SGM adolescents, developing digital behavioral health interventions to address these needs. Dr. Macapagal's work includes examining awareness and use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among SGM adolescents, exploring use of online spaces for sexual development, and developing text-message interventions to improve HIV testing access. Her research portfolio demonstrates strong trends toward implementation science, digital health interventions for HIV prevention, and addressing health disparities among marginalized youth populations through innovative technological approaches. She serves on several professional leadership roles including as Chair of the Health Equity Special Interest Group for the Society for Digital Mental Health (2023-present) and as a Member of the University of Minnesota Institute for Sex and Gender Health Annual Survey Advisory Council (2022-present). She previously served as Associate Editor for Archives of Sexual Behavior (2020-2023) and on the Medical Advisory Board for Flo Health (2019-2022). Dr. Macapagal leads active clinical trials including a text messaging program designed to increase sexual health information and behavioral skills for LGBTQ+ teens (IRB number STU00217358). She is affiliated with the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM) and the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS).












