SONJA MACKENZIE
Dr. Mackenzie’s work seeks to address the conjoined effects of poverty, racism, homophobia and gender inequalities on HIV/AIDS vulnerability among urban populations of women and girls, queer youth, and African American gay and non-gay identified men who have sex with men (MSM). Dr. Mackenzie’s dissertation research looked through the lens of HIV/AIDS conspiracy theories at the relationship between structural violence, sexual identities, and HIV/AIDS vulnerability among a qualitative sample of HIV- and HIV+ African Americans in the Bay Area. Dr. Mackenzie’s research is influenced by her long-standing work with the Oakland-based organization Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Diseases (WORLD), as well as former work with the San Francisco Needle Exchange (a site by and for youth) and the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC) Queer Youth Organizing Project. Dr. Mackenzie received her Doctorate in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008, and her MS from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2000. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Health Equity Initiative at San Francisco State University.
