Karen Nieves-Lugo, Ph.D., M.P.H., B.S.

Scientific Review Officer
Office of Extramural Research Administration, Scientific Review Branch
karen.nieveslugo@nih.gov
301-480-4727

Prior to joining the National Institutes of Health at the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), Dr. Karen Nieves-Lugo was a research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the Latino Health Research Center at The George Washington University. Her research concentrates on the psychosocial and behavioral factors relevant to HIV/AIDS and sexual risk among Latino sexual and gender minorities. She also studies the role of culture, social, psychological and behavioral risk factors in HIV health outcomes, adherence to HIV treatments, and functional disabilities among older people living with HIV. At CSR, she was a divisional Scientific Review Officer (SRO) in the Division of AIDS, Behavioral and Population Sciences (DABP) where she had the opportunity to work with different Integrated Review Groups (IRGs) and peer-review initiatives.

Dr. Nieves-Lugo received her B.S. in industrial microbiology from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus. She earned her M.P.H. in public health biostatics from University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus; received a Ph.D. in psychology from University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus; and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Latino Health Research Center at The George Washington University.

Her graduate and postgraduate work included examining clinical conditions associated with environmental exposures in two communities in Puerto Rico, antiretroviral adherence among Latino sexual and gender minorities, and examining the role of psychosocial factors such as depression, self-perception of aging on functional limitations and frailty.

Selected Publications

1. Nieves-Lugo, K., Ware, D., Althoff, K., Brennan-Ing, M., Meanley, S., Brown, A.L., Haberlen, S.A., Masters, M., Egan, J.E., Friedman, M.R., Plankey, M. (2021). Negative perception of aging is associated with frailty transitions within a cohort of sexual minority men. Innovation in Aging, 5(4):1-12 doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igab035
2. Nieves-Lugo, K., Barnett, A., Pinho, V. Reisen, C. Poppen, P., & Zea M.C. (2019). Sexual migration and HIV risk in a sample of Latino immigrant MSM living in New York City. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 21(1): 115-122. doi: 10.1007/s10903-018-0716-7.
3. Barnett, A. P., Molock, S. D., Nieves-Lugo, K., & Zea, M.C. (2019). Anti-LGBT victimization, fear of violence at school, and suicide risk among adolescents. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 6(1), 88-95. doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000309
4. McKellar, M.S., Kuchibhatla, M.N., Oursler, K.A.K., Crystal, S., Akgün, K.M., Crothers, K., Gibert, C.L., Nieves-Lugo, K., Womack, J., Tate, J.P., Fillenbaum, G.G. (2019). Racial Differences in Change in Physical Functioning in Older Male Veterans with HIV. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses, 35(11-12):1034-1043. doi: 10.1089/AID.2018.0296.
5. Page, K. R., Grieb, S. D., Nieves-Lugo, K., Yamanis, T., Taylor, H., Martinez, O., ... & Zea, M. C. (2018). Enhanced immigration enforcement in the USA and the transnational continuity of HIV care for Latin American immigrants in deportation proceedings. The Lancet HIV, 5(10), e597-e604.
6. Page, K.R., Martinez, O., Nieves-Lugo, K., Zea, M.C., Dolwick Grieb, S., Yamanis, T.J., Spear, K., Davis, W.W. & Latinx MACC Consortium. (2017). Promoting Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis to Prevent HIV Infections Among Sexual and Gender Minority Hispanics/Latinxs. AIDS education and prevention, 5 389-400. doi: 10.1521/aeap.2017.29.5.389
7. Nieves-Lugo, K., Del Rio-González, A.M., Reisen, C., Poppen, P. Oursler, K.K. & Zea, M.C. (2016). Greater Depressive Symptoms and Higher Viral Load Are Associated with Poor Physical Function among Latino Men Living with HIV. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, 16(1):30-36. doi:10.1177/2325957416640363

Page updated June 1, 2022