Dr. Kelika Konda is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California. She has worked in Lima, Peru since 2004 focusing on HIV and STI prevention research with gay men and transgender women. Dr. Konda’s work specifically focuses on interventions to reduce HIV disease burden and improve sexual health among gender and sexual minorities, advancing understandings of HIV disease transmission, care, and prevention at the intersections of social and economic instability.
Dr. Konda’s interest in public health began when she was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic. After working there for two years she decided to get a Master’s degree in Social and Behavioral Interventions in the International Health department of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 2005. Dr. Konda received her PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 2010. She then completed a post-doctoral Fellowship in Global Health at UCLA and went on to obtain an NIMH-funded K01 entitled that focused on HIV prevention strategies for gay couples in Peru.
Dr. Konda is an Associated Research at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia where she works with the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Sexuality, Society, and AIDS on a variety of clinical trials focused on behavioral and community strategies for HIV prevention among gender and sexual minorities. Dr. Konda has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles. She also serves on the HVTN and ACTG Social and Behavioral Working Groups, contributing to the networks’ clinical trials.