Juan C. Jauregui, MSW, MPH is a 4^th year doctoral student in the Department of Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. His research centers LGBTQ+ young people and explores the intersection of social processes with health outcomes. Specifically, his work investigates the place-based social, economic, and environmental contextual factors that impact the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ communities in low and middle-income countries.

Before entering the doctoral program at UCLA, Juan worked with the Resilience + Resistance Collective at the University of Michigan School of Public Health where he was involved in LGBTQ+ mental health and sexual health projects in the U.S., Kenya, Zambia, and the Dominican Republic. He also worked with the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program at Michigan Medicine where he focused on examining health inequities for LGB people with bipolar disorder. Juan’s previous professional experiences also include working as a Research Associate for the UCLA Adolescent Trials Network and as a Crisis Worker for a national suicide hotline.

As a doctoral student Juan has continued to build his global health research agenda. His doctoral research has involved co-leading the launch of a national survey focused on LGBTQ+ youth mental health both in Peru and the Philippines. He is also a recipient of a NIMHD T37 LEAD Global Training Fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. Juan is based in Lima, Peru for the 2024-2025 academic year to conduct the fieldwork for his dissertation project.

Juan’s qualitative dissertation titled “Exploring Mental Health, Stigma and HIV Treatment Engagement Among SGM Young People Living with HIV in Lima, Peru” was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health as part of the Fogarty UCGHI GloCal Health Fellowship. The project prioritizes knowledge that will improve community-based service provision and interventions that address HIV and mental health inequities for this vulnerable population.

Juan earned his BS in Psychobiology from UCLA in 2017 and Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan in 2021. Juan is a recipient of the 2023 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship.

Selected Publications:

Jadwin-Cakmak, L., Jauregui, J. C., McDowell, H., Davis, K., LaBoy, R., Johnson, G. L., Hosek, S., Harper, G. W. (2023) “They’re not feeling the love they need to feel”: HIV stigma and other intersecting stigmas among Black gay and bisexual men and transgender women in house and ball communities. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health. doi: 10.1080/19359705.2023.2200375

Lewis, K. A., Jadwin-Cakmak, L., Walimbwa, J., Ogunbajo, A., Jauregui, J. C., Onyango, D. P.,  Moore, D. M.,  Johnson, G. L., Odero, W., Harper, G. W. (2023). “You’ll Be Chased Away”: Sources, Experiences, and Effects of Violence and Stigma among Gay and Bisexual Men in Kenya. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 2825. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20042825

Jauregui, J. C., Rucah, C., Crawford, J., Jadwin-Cakmak, L., Concehla, C., Onyango, D. P., Harper, G. W. Experiences of Violence and Mental Health Concerns among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults in Western Kenya. LGBT Health. 2021 Oct;8(7):494-501. doi: 10.1089/lgbt.2020.0495. Epub 2021 Aug 31. PMID: 34463158.