Natalie Leblanc Selected as Visiting Fellow at Yale University's School of Public Health

Natalie M. Leblanc, PhD, MPH, BSN , an assistant professor +at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, has been named a visiting fellow in the Research Education Institute for Diverse Scholars (REIDS) at Yale University’s School of Public Health.

A former public health specialist, Leblanc joined the UR School of Nursing in 2016 after earning her PhD from the University of Miami. She previously earned her master’s in public health from Emory University and two bachelor’s degrees: one in nursing from the University of Florida and one in cultural anthropology from Trinity (CT) College.

The overarching goal of Leblanc’s research agenda is to address health disparities in sexual health and investigate ways to optimize sexual health through the lens of holistic and culturally relevant frameworks. She is interested in elucidating the context of vulnerability to poor sexual health outcomes (i.e., HIV/STI infection) among populations who are overburdened in experiencing threats to sexual health. Leblanc is also interested in investigating how health care providers do and can facilitate couple-centered approaches in sexual health, specifically couples HIV testing and counseling and HIV-related integrated prevention and care.

Additionally, she is interested in investigating the adoption of explicit relationship agreements, like Negotiated Safety and couples HIV testing and counseling, among couples with unique vulnerability to HIV acquisition (i.e., black heterosexual couples and same-sex male couples) in Western New York. She is interested in the use of technology and leveraging cultural strengths and social support within couples to address disparities in sexual health. As a fellow in REIDS, located at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA), she is eligible for up to $20,000 in NIH pilot funding to support this line of research.