Typhanye Vielka Dyer

Typhanye Vielka Dyer is an epidemiologist and health disparities scholar whose research examines the influence of social, psychological and behavioral factors on STI and HIV-risk in Black populations. She has over 15 years of experience conducting research exploring HIV infection and health-related outcomes among Black underserved populations, including sexual minorities and women.

The majority of Dyer's work involves examining syndemics (intersecting psychosocial and structural barriers to care) among Black sexual and gender minority men and transwomen, including the impact of trauma, poor mental health and criminal justice involvement and STI/HIV for Black gay and bisexual men.

Her educational training is in infectious disease and social epidemiology, as well as community health, particularly focused on community-engaged research. Her work examines compound stigma and engagement in the HIV care continuum for older Black women living with HIV in Prince George’s County.

As the public health field moves toward biomedical interventions for prevention (PrEP and TaP), an understanding of the mechanisms that influence stigma and how those may impact engagement in the HIV care continuum is critical for developing and implementing interventions and effectively reducing HIV-related disparities, which Dyer seek to do in the DC Metro area.

In order to achieve this goal, she says there is a critical need for developing best practices at both the provider and community levels to improve engagement in care for people living with HIV. Dyer has a long-standing commitment to research racial and gender disparities in STI and HIV infection and engagement in care.