D2neXt Salutes: Dr. Neia Prata Menezes, PhD

Improving the health of marginalized communities worldwide, and dedicated to making an impact with intentionality in her studies, D2neXt salutes Dr. Neia Prata Menezes, PhD. A friend/ally to the LGBQTIA+ community, a resource/voice for the underserved, and a champion humanitarian are just a few reasons why SHE IS BLACK HISTORY.

Dr. Neia Prata Menezes, PhD is an infectious disease epidemiologist in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She hails from the Bay Area, by way of Luanda, Angola, and is currently a proud Oakland resident. She moved to California when she was 9 years old and quickly learned about the health disparities prevalent in minoritized communities in the US. She’s always had an interest in serving communities in need, so she chose to pursue a career in public health. 

She obtained her bachelors at Princeton University, her MPH at Emory University, and her PhD at Johns Hopkins University. She is passionate about bridging health disparities in communities most vulnerable to disease as a result of social determinants of health imposed by systems like capitalism and economic policies, racism, social norms, social policies, and queer/transphobia. These communities include, but are not limited to, racial and ethnic minorities, people who inject drugs, people who engage in sex work, and transgender persons. Her research expertises lies at the nexus of infectious diseases like HIV, STI’s, and Hepatitis C virus, disease prevention, and leveraging interpersonal social connections to design interventions that promote positive behavior change, and improved disease and mental health outcomes. 

Some of her recent work includes characterizing the impact of intersectional stigma on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among Black transgender women in Brazil. Another project focuses on understanding the roles of social support on injecting behaviors among people who inject drugs in the San Francisco, Bay Area. Finally, she’s working to develop guidance around pandemic preparedness to ensure that members of racial and ethnic minorities are appropriately accounted for in future disease mitigation efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the most vulnerable in our communities most often bear the burden of inadequate pandemic prevention efforts.

Outside of her work Neia is obsessed with her 11yr old pitbull, Huey, and loves exploring the Bay’s bars, restaurants, and trails with her partner. She is an avid  traveler, polyglot, dancer, and aspiring yoga teacher. She is also passionate about mentoring young teenagers of color and from low resource communities, helping them to attain their educational and career goals.