Andrea L. Wirtz, PhD

Dr. Wirtz is an epidemiologist with expertise in infectious disease. Dr. Wirtz is dedicated to the field of epidemiologic assessment of infectious disease, violence, and health among marginalized populations with specific interest in developing measures and methods to assess risks, outcomes and effective health interventions for these populations. Dr. Wirtz's interests include epidemiological and intervention research related to violence, stigma, disparities in healthcare access, and infectious disease, particularly HIV infection; implementation science methods for key populations; and capacity building among local community-based partners. She is a Principal Investigator of the LITE cohort, which aims to develop and follow the first cohort of transgender women in six US cities to assess incidence of HIV and other health outcomes. She is a co-investigator of several domestic and international studies which aim to develop and assess the impact of HIV prevention and care interventions for men who have sex with men, transgender women, and others in high risk contexts. Dr. Wirtz has received a faculty development award from the Center for AIDS Research to assess the impact of intimate partner violence on engagement in HIV care in Rakai, Uganda. She has collaborated on multiple international studies to estimate population prevalence of gender-based violence victimization and perpetration and to develop interventions to identify cases of violence for referral and care in humanitarian settings.