Dr. Dirk A. Davis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Implementation Science at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI). He is a behavioral scientist and mixed methodologist whose research focuses on reducing HIV, mental health, and violence disparities through community-engaged behavioral interventions.

Dr. Davis completed his MPH and PhD in Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Before starting his current position, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of California Global Health Institute (D43TW009343) and in the Duke Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in AIDS (T32AI007392).

He has worked in Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean in collaboration with various governmental, academic, and community-based organizations since 2010, including nearly five years where he lived and worked in Guatemala with the US Peace Corps.

Current, Future, Prior Projects

Examining the relationships between sexual minority stress, mental health, and PrEP engagement among Indigenous gay and bisexual men in Guatemala: Preparing for a pilot intervention – Duke CFAR Microgrant (2022-2023); Role: PI

Adapting the ESTEEM intervention to improve mental health and PrEP uptake among gay and bisexual men in Guatemala – NIMH K01 (Jan 2023 submission); Role: PI

Rurality, Mental health, and Policy: Uncovering Potential interventions to improve sexual and gender minority health using the All of Us Research Program (RAMP UP) – NIMHD R21 (Mar 2023 submission); Role: MPI (with Dr. Chris Gray)

Adapting and piloting the FRESH intervention to reduce intersectional stigma among Indigenous gay and bisexual men living with HIV in Guatemala – NIMH R34 (May 2023 submission); Role: Co-I (PI Roberto Orellana, Univ. of Washington)