Dr. Caleb Esteban from Ponce Health Sciences University
Principal Investigator
The Risk Of Metabolic Syndrome Associated With The Rejection Of The Coming Out Process Among Hispanic LGB Young Adults
Dr. Caleb is Clinical Psychologist by training and work as a Researcher and Assistant Professor in the PhD Clinical Psychology Department, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences at Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU). As an undergraduate and graduate student, he took all his elective courses in sexual and gender issues and research training involving LGBTI+ individuals. After completing his bachelor’s degree, he had the opportunity to do an internship at a community organization called AGUILAS at the Alliant International University, SF Campus, working on HIV prevention and promotion among Hispanic/Latinx (H/L) gay and bisexual individuals. During his internship, he completed an LGBT-Affirmative Psychotherapy Certification by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and defended his dissertation on the associations between hegemonic masculinity and quality of life and the psychosocial well-being of gay and bisexual men in Latin America. A year later, he completed a Sex Therapy Certification from Albizu University. As part of the LGBTI+ community, he has focused his career on sexual and gender minorities (SGM) through national and international workshops, continuing education, conferences, book chapters, and construction, translation, and validation of instruments about the topic. He was also an independent postdoctoral researcher in a research faculty development program focused on human intersexuality at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. He recently was a START program scholar, where he was awarded two RCMI’s pre-pilots and one pilot project at PHSU’s Specialized Center in Health Disparities (U54MD007579) and a pilot project from The Hispanic Alliance for Clinical and Translational Research (U54GM133807).
As an early-stage investigator, he have successfully published his research in peer-reviewed journals. His work has focused on health, stigma, and coming-out issues among H/L SGM populations. As coordinator of the Sex, Gender, and Sexual Orientation Diversity Committee of the Puerto Rico Psychological Association for five years, He had the opportunity to work with SGM throughout the island. This has garnered him the support to conduct different research projects within this population. Conducting research with H/L SGM, I have noticed the difficulty and negative experiences in the coming out process due to stigma, discrimination, and LGBTAQI+-phobias, especially from their own family. This is even more challenging when the community finds negative attitudes and discrimination from health professionals. Therefore, his research interests are primarily sexual and gender minorities’ biopsychosocial health, disparities, and health barriers. For this project, he has the honor to have two experienced mentors, Dr. Alixida Ramos-Pibernus (peer junior mentor) and Dr. Idhaliz Flores (senior mentor), and other team members who will help achieve the research gap between the coming out process and cardiovascular risk factors.
Publications
