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Portrait of Dr. Mariano Kanamori

Dr. Mariano Kanamori

Dr. Mariano Kanamori is a Latino epidemiologist working on reducing HIV and Substance Use Disorder disparities faced by under-served Latino populations. Currently, Dr. Kanamori is Assistant Professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, in the Department of Public Health Sciences. He received a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from The University of Maryland and a M.A. from Georgetown University. Dr. Kanamori incorporates translational research, social network analysis, and community-based participatory research across all of his projects. During his doctoral training funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), Dr. Kanamori designed, pre-tested, successfully implemented and evaluated a social network HIV prevention program for Latina seasonal workers who use alcohol and/or illicit drugs. Currently, Dr. Kanamori is implementing the second phase of his K99/R00 award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which uses multilevel approaches and dyadic, egocentric and two-mode networks to address substance use disorders and HIV risk in Latina seasonal workers. Dr. Kanamori is also currently implementing a social network study of young Latino MSM and PrEP, with funding from The Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)/National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Kanamori recently received funding from NIMHD through the Center for Latino Health Research Opportunities (CLaRO) to develop a PrEP social network intervention for underserved Latinos. Dr. Kanamori has published twenty-four community health papers in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored a book chapter on Latino health. His research has been presented at over 50 national and international conferences. He has received 19 research fellowships, prizes and awards for his work in prevention science. Dr. Kanamori has worked with the Latino seasonal worker and Latino immigrant communities in South Florida and Washington, D.C.; orphaned and vulnerable children due to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa; and vulnerable and underserved populations in Peru. He currently teaches Community-Based Participatory Research and Social Network Approaches at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Contact Information:

Email: mkanamori@med.miami.edu
Phone: (305) 243-2427
Publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=mariano+kanamori
Link to directory: https://med.miami.edu/faculty/mariano-kanamori-phd-ma

Portrait of Kyle Self

 Kyle Self

Kyle Self entered the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Miami in 2020 and joined Dr. Kanamori's lab in June 2021. He has a bachelor’s degree in International Business and Spanish from High Point University. Since graduating in 2014, Kyle has worked in health psychology research and research management with a focus on motivational interviewing, opioid use, and improving access and quality of care for marginalized groups. Kyle's current research interests include understanding how social network interactions in Latinx communities affect access to mental health treatment and disease prevention and contributing to community-based participatory research programs to increase opportunities to access care. Kyle can be reached at kxs1245@miami.edu. 

 

Portrait of Alfonso Yepes

Alfonso Yepes 

Alfonso Yepes, MD, MPH, is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Public Health Sciences. He received his medical degree from Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia, and completed his internship in the Department of Otolaryngology at Universitätsklinikum Freiburg in Germany. He went on to pursue an MPH degree at the University of Miami and, since then, has focused his research on health disparities faced by marginalized communities in South Florida. His work includes the development of egocentric social network visualizations to address HIV outbreaks among injection drug users. Dr. Yepes intends to continue exploring social influences within racial and sexual minority groups, while integrating his medical knowledge into the public health field. 

 

Portrait of Ariana Johnson

Ariana Johnson

Ariana Johnson is a Doctoral Candidate in Epidemiology, in the Department of Public Health Sciences. Prior to living in Miami, FL she worked in San Diego, CA and New York City, NY. Her current research examines syndemic factors (including polysubstance use, childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, internalized homonegativity, internalized sexual stigma, depression, anxiety, and discrimination) among men who have sex with men (MSM) and the way in which these syndemic factors interact with one another and the way they impact the adoption of HIV prevention behaviors. Her research also explores the use of machine learning environments to explore the most influential syndemic factors as well as explore the potential predictive capability of the syndemic framework. She has presented at over ten national and international conferences.

 

Portrait of Rebe Silvey

Rebe Silvey

Rebe Silvey is a student in the MPH in Epidemiology program in the Department of Public Health Sciences. They are a queer, non-binary Bolivian immigrant who is passionate about research as a tool for social justice and equity. They are particularly interested in further illuminating and centering the health needs of historically marginalized and underserved communities nationally and globally. Their intersectional research and work focuses on populations within the intersections of gender & sexual minorities, and racial & ethnic minorities. 

Porrtrait of Nonie Kalra

Nonie Kalra

Nonie (she/they) is a first year student in the Master’s in Prevention Science and Community Health program at UM. They grew up in the Bay Area in California, and have a Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences from California Polytechnic University- San Luis Obispo. Their areas of interest are minority health disparities, sexual health and HIV, and Power and Gender-based violence. In her free time, Nonie loves to dance, and is enjoying experimenting with new styles since they moved to South Florida. After graduating, they hope to be working to improve sexual health outcomes and fight stigmas in POC communities, through research and advocacy. 

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Edda Rodriguez

Edda Rodriguez is a Latinx doctoral student in Prevention Science and Community Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Preceding her doctoral training Mrs. Rodriguez earned her B.S. in Psychology and a Master in Public Health from The Florida State University. Her current doctoral training, under the leadership of Dr. Mariano Kanamori,  focuses on drug use, social network analyses, and HIV implementation science. Specifically, her work focuses on innovative social network modeling to study HIV-related syndemics impacting Latinx men who have sex with men (LMSM) in Miami-Dade, Florida. Prior to joining the University of Miami, Mrs. Rodriguez worked for the Florida Department of Health (FDOH). During her tenure with FDOH, Mrs. Rodriguez was active in several projects including, the development of two county health improvement plans (CHIP), two Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER), Biomedical grant management, coordination of the Florida Health Grand Rounds, and ongoing health communications and outreach. As part of this work, she developed a sociocentric network visualization to portray polydrug use differences across different racial/ethnic and sexual self-identity groups.

Portrait of Gabrielle Webb

Gabrielle Webb

Gabrielle is a first year MPH student at the University of Miami. She currently obtains a Healthcare MBA from Florida International University and a B.H.S from Florida Atlantic University. At the University of Miami, Gabrielle conducts research examining health disparities and social networks of the Latinx community while carrying out HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives. Her professional background consists of employment at Florida Department of Health and Broward Health Medical System.