Dr. Yamilé Molina serves as a scholar activist focused on promoting the voices and agency of marginalized and resilient populations, including communities of color, LGBTQ communities, and communities living with chronic conditions.

Since joining SPH in 2016, Dr. Molina and community partners have been successful in obtaining multiple competitive grants (>$740K), publishing >30 peer-reviewed articles, and >25 national conference presentations focused on health equity. Further, Dr. Molina is committed to the next diverse generation of scholar activists, having mentored >30 undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, graduate, and medical students who identify as ethnic, sexual, and gender minorities. An overarching theme in their work is recognizing and leveraging the assets of underserved individuals, social networks, and communities toward health equity, with a focus on breast cancer and HIV. Specifically, individuals do not represent only “data points” in scientific studies, but also have the potential to become messengers/interventionists that diffuse and act upon evidence.