For over two decades, Dr. Halkitis’ program of research has examined the intersection between HIV and other STIs, drug abuse, and mental health burden, and the biological, behavioral, psychosocial, and structural factors that predispose these and other health disparities in the LGBTQ population. Recently the focus of his work has centered on three main areas: (1) documenting the exposure to bacterial and viral pathogens associated with health disparities and cancer disparities in gay men; (2) understanding the behavioral, biological, psychosocial, and structural factors that predispose infection with these pathogens and other health burdens; and (3) implementation research that integrates biomedical and behavioral approaches to deliver healthcare services to gay men within the community to prevent these disparities. This work is being enacted in the United States in large urban centers including Newark, New Jersey and is being developed in Athens, Greece. Dr. Halkitis is the founder and director of the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior & Prevention Studies (CHIBPS; www.chibps.org), which is a training site for the next generation of scholars and partners with community agencies to conduct studies for and with the LGBTQ population.
