Ramos Lab Website

Ramos

LAB

Welcome to the ramos lab!

Dr. S. Raquel Ramos, PhD, MBA, MSN, FNP, FNYAM, FAHA is the Director of the Ramos Lab. She is an Associate Professor at the Yale University School of Nursing and is jointly appointed at the Yale School of Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The Ramos Lab conducts research that centers the health and well-being of diverse and marginalized communities living with HIV. We partner with members of the community, community-serving organizations, clinicians, and researchers to co-design projects that have relevance and meaningful to the needs of the community

See our link to the LEARN Study!

LEARN Study

Meet the team BEHIND THE RESEARCH

Ramos Lab 2024 - 2025

Dr. S. Raquel Ramos, PhD, MBA, MSN, FNYAM, FAHA

Role: Lab Director / Principal Investigator (PI)

Pronouns: she/her/ella

Bio: Dr. Ramos has over a decade of direct patient care experience as a nurse clinician in the areas of critical care, interventional cardiology, LGBTQ+ health, long-term care, and HIV clinical trials research as a protocol nurse for The Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). Dr. Ramos’ program of research focuses on using technology-driven approaches for behavioral prevention of chronic illness in sexual minoritized men with HIV.

Research Interests: LGBTQ+ Health, User-centered Design, UX/UI, Cardiovascular Disease and HIV Prevention, Behavioral Interventions

Full Faculty Profile: Raquel Ramos

Role: Clinical Research Coordinator

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Career: Lindsie serves as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation in which she screens, enrolls, and asesses all participants for the LEARN Study.

Full Profile: Lindsie Boerger

Lindsie Boerger, BA

Baram Kang, MSN

Role: Graduate Research Assistant (RA)

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Career: Baram is a second year PhD student at the Yale School of Nursing with her MSN from the University of Texas at Austin and a BSN from the Catholic University of Korea

Lab Impact: “Dr. Ramos provides a lot of opportunities to learn and collaborate!”

Research Interests: Health Equity, Sleep Health, Mental Health, Minority Adolescents and Young Adults

Full Student Profile: Baram Kang

Megan Piller, BSPH, BS Micr. & Immun.

Role: Alumni

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Career: Megan is a MPH candidate in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale University School of Public Health with a concentration in Global Health. She graduated from the University of Miami in May 2023 with both a B.S. in Microbiology and Immunology as well as a B.S. in Public Health.

Lab Impact: “I am grateful for the opportunities this lab has given me to more deeply explore the intricacies of a clinical trial. I am also invigorated by the opportunities I have had to create health communication materials and share them with our incredible LEARN Study community!”

Research Interests: HIV/AIDS, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Health Equity, NCDs

G. Oscar Anderson, BA, RN

Role: Alumni

Pronouns: he/him/his

Career: Oscar is a MSN student at the Yale School of Nursing in the Family Nurse Practitioner program.

Lab Impact: “It’s been great to be a part of the lab and participate in The LEARN Study. I’ve been able to grow my skills as the study’s health educator and it has been incredibly rewarding to help participants take charge of their health and create positive change in their lives.”

Research Interests: Queer and Transgender Health, Health Equity, Gender Affirming Care Management, Maintaining Social Connections Throughout the Lifespan

Lauren Chin, MPH

Role: Alumni

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Career: Project Coordinator, Harvard Health

Lab Impact: “I deeply enjoyed being a member of the Ramos lab with constant learning opportunities and getting to study the complex intersection of HIV and chronic disease. I am grateful to the community members who shared their experiences and thoughts surrounding these topics which taught me to leave my assumptions at the door and listen when embarking on qualitative research endeavors and recommending policy. I know the patience, grit, and knowledge I've gained from working in the lab will translate into the patient and community-centered projects I will be working on for the rest of my career.”

Research Interests: User-Centered Digital Health Tool Development, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases, Culturally Competent Care

Andre Parilla, MPH

Role: Alumni

Pronouns: he/him/his

Career: Andre graduated with his MPH from Yale university in May of 2023 and is currently a first year medical student at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV.

Lab Impact: "The Ramos Lab is a supportive group of individuals committed to health equity and the growth of their peers. My experience with Dr. Ramos was an exceptional one -- she would always support me in my professional goals and helped me get to where I am today. My labmates have pushed me to become a better researcher, writer, community leader, student, future physician, and human. I am forever indebted to the Ramos Lab and its members."

Research Interests: Health Equity, LGBTQ+ Health Interventions

Harry Kim, BSN, RN

Role: Alumni

Pronouns: he/him/his

Career: Harry is a Hematology and Oncology nurse at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Lab Impact: "Dr. Ramos has a background in nursing which helped me understand the perspective that a nurse can play in research and expanded my understanding of nursing career paths."

Research Interests: Immunocompromised Populations, Oncology, HIV/AIDS, Clinical Nursing

STAY INFORMED ABOUT OUR WORK

Learn About LEARN

L E veraging A vi R tual e N vironment to Enhance Prevention of HIV-related Comorbidities in at-risk Men who Have Sex with Men (MSM) is a first-of-its-kind study that utilizes a virtual environment (VE) to address modifiable, behavioral risk factors in gay and bisexual men with HIV in order to close the cardiovascular health equity gap.

Click the computer

to learn more

and check your eligibility status

Additional Research

The GPS Study: A mixed method study that used intervention mapping to develop a CVD prevention protocol in Black, Latinx, and Caribbean men with HIV.

Characterizing Social Determinants, CVD Risk, and Mental Health Outcomes in SGM individuals: a cross-sectional survey

Manuscript Visualizations

Poster & Presentation

RAMOS Lab in the news

Yale School of Nursing

"YSPH Students Benefiting From Interdisciplinary Mentorship by REIDS Fellow Alumnus"

Yale School of

Public Health

"Ramos Explores How A Virtual Environment Can Produce Cardiovascular Health Gains IRL"

Yale School of Public Health

"Emerging Technologies in Research as a Vehicle for CVD Prevention Education in Sexual Minoritized Men

of Color with HIV"

AARP Center for Health Equity Through Nursing

Dr. Ramos Celebrated for Leadership & Innovation in Advancing Health Equity with the 2023 Equity-Minded Nurse Researcher Award

RAMOS Lab in the news

Wayne State University Keynote

Dr. Ramos gives keynote presentation entitled, "Technology as a Tool to Facilitate Trust, Access, and Reach of Behavioral Interventions in Historically Marginalized Populations" at the 2024 Wayne State University Urban Health Research Conference.

MANUSCRIPT VISUALIZATIONS

Link to Open Access Article

Check back soon for more engaging visualizations

of our published papers!

Lab Student Poster and presentation

Yale Scholars Day Poster

American Public Health Association Conference 2022 Poster

Sleep Symposium Poster

Connecticut Public Health Association Conference 2023 Poster

Q-Med Conference Poster 2022

CIRA’s AIDS Science Day 2023 Poster

Eastern Nursing Research Conference 2024

Yale School of Nursing Scholar’s Day 2024

Yale School of Medicine Student Research Day 2024

CIRA’s AIDS Science Day 2023 Dissemination and Implementation Science Methods Core Panel Presentation on “Integration of Care and Treatment for Multi-Morbidities into HIV Care” by Megan Piller

Ramos Lab members presenting “Gaming For Good: Utilizing a Virtual Environment as a Vehicle for CVD Prevention Education in Sexual Minoritized Men of Color Living with HIV” at CIRA’s AIDS Science Day 2023

Right to Left: Trace Kershaw, PhD, Baram Kang, Oscar Anderson, and Megan Piller

Megan Piller (above) and Baram Kang (below) presenting the LEARN and GPS Studies at Yale School of Medicine’s Student Research Day 2024!

2nd Year PhD Student Baram Kang presenting findings from the Gaming Protocol Study, which featured findings about cardiovascular symptoms and CVD risk behaviors in sexual minority men with HIV at the 2024 Eastern Nursing Research Conference.