Ali Talan

DrPH, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 2017
MSc, Hofstra University’s School of Health Sciences and Human Services, 2012
BA, Brandeis University, 2010

Areas of expertise: Health equity; HIV prevention; Social determinants of health; Community-engaged research; Qualitative research

Background: Dr. Talan is a social and behavioral scientist at the Whitman-Walker Institute who has dedicated the past decade to researching and addressing health inequities for LGBTQIA+ populations. In 2017, they received their Doctorate in Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

They have worked in clinical, academic, and community-based settings and currently oversee multiple research awards funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Prior to joining Whitman-Walker Institute, Dr. Talan worked at Hunter College, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, UCLA, and the International AIDS Society.

Their current work is focused on three key areas: (1) Applying a community-engaged framework to examine the unmet healthcare needs of LGBTQIA+ individuals assigned female sex at birth; (2) Utilizing large-scale digital cohorts to explore inequitable HIV risk environments; and (3) Investigating the barriers and facilitators of achieving viral suppression using a socio-ecological framework.

Dr. Talan is deeply passionate about advocating for the rights and well-being of trans and non-binary communities and authored the American Public Health Association’s policy on Promoting Transgender and Gender Minority Health through Inclusive Policies and Practices.