About Rita M Melendez

Rita Melendez, PhD. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sexuality Studies and Sociology. She specializes in public health, gender and race/ethnicity issues. Her research focusses on access to care for HIV-positive Latino immigrants as well as prevention services for Latinos. She is currently conducting a study exploring how rural Latino immigrants have access to PrEP services. Her past research studies inlcude a qualitative survey of over 600 Latinos from Zacatecas living in the US and exploring their access to care as well as health. Dr. Melendez was also the PI of Proyecto Acceso which recuited 127 Latino immigrants from the SF Bay Area who were HIV positive. The study interviewed particpants qulatively at two time points to access their access to care.

Dr. Melendez received her PhD in Sociology from Yale University in 2000. In 2002 she earned a Master’s Degree in Biostatstics from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. She was a postdoctoral research fellow at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at Columbia University, where she received a National Research Service Award Research Training Fellowship. Her studies have been publiched in a variety of domestic and international journals including: Journal of Public Health, Culture, Health and Sexuality, and Salud Publica.