Marya Gwadz, PhD
CDUHR - Associate Director, Transdisciplinary Research Methods Core
NYU Silver School of Social Work - Professor and Associate Dean for Research
NYU Silver School of Social Work - Professor and Associate Dean for Research
Email: marya.gwadz@nyu.edu
Education
PhD, Clinical Psychology, New York UniversityMA, Psychology, New York University
BA, Psychology, University of Rochester
Research Interests
Health inequity, Social/behavioral interventions, Culturally salient interventions, Interventions to improve outcomes along the HIV care continuum (Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain studies), Peer-driven interventions, The Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST), Adaptive interventions, Adolescent and adult populations in high-risk contexts, HIV, Substance use, Poverty BIO
Marya Gwadz is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Dean for Research and Professor at the New York University Silver School of Social Work. Dr. Gwadz is an Associate Director of the Transdisciplinary Research Methods Core of the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research, in which she has played a leadership role since 2005. The main focus of Dr. Gwadz’s research is the development and evaluation of potent, innovative, multi-level culturally salient interventions to address racial/ethnic and socio-economic disparities in HIV. Her work with populations in high-risk contexts spans over two decades and has focused on sub-groups such as runaway/homeless youth, young men who have sex with men (YMSM), heterosexuals at high risk for HIV, substance-using populations, low socioeconomic status populations, and persons of color living with HIV/AIDS. Projects
Principal Investigator, Advancing Knowledge on Factors that Promote or Impede Engagement Along the HIV Care Continuum Over Time: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study of Black and Latinx Youth/Emerging Adults Living with HIV. Active
Principal Investigator, Adaption to High School among Affluent Youth: Stress and Effective Coping Strategies. Completed
Principal Investigator, Addressing Health Disparities in HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials (ACT Project). Completed
Principal Investigator, Advancing Research on Youth Settings by Exploring Program Quality and Outcomes for Runaway/Homeless Youth. Completed
Principal Investigator, Community-Based Behavioral Intervention to Increase COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccination for African American/Black and Latino Persons: An Optimization Randomized Controlled Trial. Completed
Principal Investigator, Development of Intervention Components to Increase Engagement in Care among Youth with HIV. Completed
Principal Investigator, Integrating Behavioral Skills with a Mobile Biosensor for At-Risk Teen Mothers. Completed
Principal Investigator, Intervention to Increase Timely Initiation of HAART among Those who Delay/Decline. Completed
Principal Investigator, Interventions for HIV-Positive Mothers with Drinking Problems (The Family First Intervention). Completed
Principal Investigator, Peer-Driven Intervention to Enroll Minorities/Women in HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials (ACT2). Completed
Principal Investigator, Peer-Driven Intervention to Seek, Test & Treat Heterosexuals at High Risk for HIV. Completed
Principal Investigator, Recent Changes in HIV Testing Recommendations: Impact on Youth at Risk. Completed
Principal Investigator, Using MOST to Optimize an HIV Care Continuum Intervention for Vulnerable Populations. Completed
Principal Investigator, Using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) to Optimize an Intervention to Increase COVID-19 Testing for Black and Latino/Hispanic Frontline Essential Workers. Completed
Principal Investigator, Wellness Wise: Unpacking and Understanding the Management of Co-Morbidities among Persons of Color Living with HIV. Completed
Publications
Recent
Brooks MA, Rodwin AH, Gwadz M, Wilton L, Serrano S, Sherpa D, Cleland CM, Munson MR (2025).
Black and Latinx foreign- and US-born young and emerging adults living with HIV: Examining social ecological risk factors and their association with depression, post-traumatic stress Disorder (PTSD), and comorbid depression/PTSD
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities [Epub 2025 May 7]. doi: 10.1007/s40615-025-02458-x.
Black and Latinx foreign- and US-born young and emerging adults living with HIV: Examining social ecological risk factors and their association with depression, post-traumatic stress Disorder (PTSD), and comorbid depression/PTSD
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities [Epub 2025 May 7]. doi: 10.1007/s40615-025-02458-x.
Wilton L, Gwadz M, Cleland CM, Campos S, Munson MR, Dorsen C, Serrano S, Sherpa D, Saba SK, Rosmarin-DeStefano C, Filippone P (2025).
Understanding African American/Black and Latine young and emerging adults living with HIV: A sequential explanatory mixed methods study focused on self-regulatory resources
International Journal for Equity in Health, 24 (1), 120. doi: 10.1186/s12939-025-02492-5. PMCID: PMC12051309.
Understanding African American/Black and Latine young and emerging adults living with HIV: A sequential explanatory mixed methods study focused on self-regulatory resources
International Journal for Equity in Health, 24 (1), 120. doi: 10.1186/s12939-025-02492-5. PMCID: PMC12051309.
Cluesman SR, Gwadz M, Cleland CM (2025).
Intentions to use PrEP among a national sample of transgender and gender-expansive youth and emerging adults: Examining gender minority stress, substance use, and gender affirmation
AIDS and Behavior, 29 (5), 1428-1448. doi: 10.1007/s10461-025-04613-1.
Intentions to use PrEP among a national sample of transgender and gender-expansive youth and emerging adults: Examining gender minority stress, substance use, and gender affirmation
AIDS and Behavior, 29 (5), 1428-1448. doi: 10.1007/s10461-025-04613-1.
Gwadz M, Heng S, Cleland CM, Strayhorn J, Robinson JA, Serrano FGB, Wang P, Parameswaran L, Chero R (2025).
Effects of behavioral intervention components to increase COVID-19 testing for African American/Black and Latine frontline essential workers not up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccination: Results of an optimization randomized controlled trial
Journal of Behavioral Medicine [Epub 2025 Apr 17]. doi: 10.1007/s10865-025-00566-x.
Effects of behavioral intervention components to increase COVID-19 testing for African American/Black and Latine frontline essential workers not up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccination: Results of an optimization randomized controlled trial
Journal of Behavioral Medicine [Epub 2025 Apr 17]. doi: 10.1007/s10865-025-00566-x.
Gwadz M, Robinson JA, Serrano FGB, Campos S, Freeman RM, Chero R, Cleland CM, Parameswaran L, Hawkins RL, Filippone P, Lizardo M, Bangser G, Ramirez PG, Negret A, Kagzi M, Lissinna H (2025).
Perspectives on COVID-19 vaccination among unvaccinated and under-vaccinated African American/Black and Latine frontline essential workers: A qualitative exploration
AIDS and Behavior [Epub 2025 Apr 10]. doi: 10.1007/s10461-025-04708-9.
Perspectives on COVID-19 vaccination among unvaccinated and under-vaccinated African American/Black and Latine frontline essential workers: A qualitative exploration
AIDS and Behavior [Epub 2025 Apr 10]. doi: 10.1007/s10461-025-04708-9.
Notable
Behavioral intervention improves treatment outcomes among HIV-infected individuals who have delayed, declined, or discontinued antiretroviral therapy: A randomized controlled trial of a novel intervention
AIDS and Behavior, 19 (10), 1801-1807. doi: 10.1007/s10461-015-1054-6. PMCID: PMC4567451.
Gwadz M, Cleland CM, Belkin M, Ritchie A, Leonard N, Riedel M, Banfield A, Colon P, Elharrar V, Kagan J, Mildvan D (2014).
ACT2 peer-driven intervention increases enrollment into HIV/AIDS medical studies among African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics: A cluster randomized controlled trial
AIDS and Behavior, 18 (12), 2409-2422. doi: 10.1007/s10461-014-0829-5. PMCID: PMC4451823.
Gwadz MV, Gostnell K, Smolenski C, Willis B, Nish D, Nolan TC, Tharaken M, Ritchie AS (2009).
The initiation of homeless youth into the street economy
Journal of Adolescence, 32 (2), 357-377. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.01.004.
Dr. Gwadz's MyBibliography Profile
Selected Press