Tamar Goldenberg

Bio & Education

PERSONAL INTRODUCTION

I first became passionate about doing work related to social justice and gender while I was an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan. After college, I worked as both a sexual assault counselor and as a birth doula (among other things) with non-profit organizations and health centers in the United States and Nicaragua (where I lived for nearly two years). These early professional experiences taught me the value of working with communities when conducting public health research. I always think about the practical implications of my public health work, with the goal of developing interventions, advocating for better policies, and improving health outcomes for marginalized populations and communities. Outside of work, I love cooking, caring for my plants, playing board games, and traveling. I am also a cat lady and I love anything having to do with cats.

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Dr. Tamar Goldenberg is an Assistant Professor of Public Health Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her work focuses on stigma and the health of sexual and gender minority communities in the United States and other global settings, with a particular focus on the health of transgender and other gender-diverse people. Dr. Goldenberg takes a multi-level and strength-based approach with her research, and considers the ways that policies, communities, and social environments can foster resilience and ameliorate the negative health effects of stigma. Dr. Goldenberg uses mixed methods approaches in her research to address a range of inter-related health outcomes, including HIV, intimate partner violence, mental health, and healthcare access.

• PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health
• MPH in Global Health, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
• BA in Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan

Research

1. Sexual and gender minority health
2. Global health
3. Community-based participatory research
4. Stigma and resilience
5. Sexual health
6. Intimate partner violence
7. Mental health
8. Healthcare access

CURRENT PROJECTS

I am collaborating with researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, George Washington University, and the Instituto Dermatológico de Cirugía y Piel to analyze mixed methods data collected among 100 transgender women sex workers living with HIV in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Goldenberg, T., Kerrigan, D., Gomez, H., Perez, M., Donastorg, Y., & Barrington, C. (in press 2021). Stigma, Social Cohesion, and Mental Health among Transgender Women Sex Workers Living with HIV in the Dominican Republic. Stigma and Health.
2. Stephenson, R., Lesco, G., Babii, V., Luchian, A., Bakunina, N., De Vasconcelos A.S., Blondeel, K., Caceres, C.F., Pitter, R.A., Metheny, N., Goldenberg, T., Kariari, J., & Toskin, I. (2021). Provider attitudes towards a brief behavioral intervention for sexual health in Moldova. BMC Public Health. 21 (1469).
3. Hughes, L., Gamarel, K.E., King, W., Goldenberg, T., Jaccard, J., & Geronimus, A. (2021). State-level policy stigma and non-prescribed hormone use of trans populations in the United States: A mediational analysis of insurance and anticipated stigma. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. kaab063.
4. Goldenberg, T. Gamarel, K.E., Reisner, S.L., Jadwin-Cakmak, L., & Harper, G.W. (2021). Gender affirmation as a source of resilience for addressing stigmatizing healthcare experiences of transgender youth of color. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Online ahead of print.
5. Goldenberg, T., Reisner, S.L., Harper, G.W., Gamarel, K.E., & Stephenson, R. (2020). State-level transgender-specific policies, race/ethnicity, and the use of medical gender affirmation services among transgender and other gender diverse people in the United States. The Milbank Quarterly. 98(3), 802-846.
6. Goldenberg, T., Reisner, S.L., Harper, G.W., Gamarel, K.E., & Stephenson, R. (2020). State policies and healthcare use among transgender people in the United States. American Journal of Preventative Medicine. 59(2), 247-259.
7. Goldenberg, T., Kahle, E., & Stephenson, R. (2020). Stigma, resilience, and healthcare use among transgender and other gender diverse youth in the United States. Transgender Health. 5(3), 173-181.
8. Stephenson, R., Metheny, N., Goldenberg, T., Bakunina, N., de Vasoncelos, S., Blondeel, K., Kiarie, J. & Toskin, I. (2020). Brief intervention to prevent sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies: Protocol of a mixed methods feasibility study. JMIR Research Protocols. 9(3).
9. Goldenberg, T., Jadwin-Cakmak, L., Popoff, E., Reisner, S.L., Campbell, B. & Harper G.W. (2019). Stigma, gender affirmation, and primary health care use among black transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health. 65(4), 483-490.
10. Goldenberg, T., Stephenson, R., & Bauermeister J. (2019). Cognitive and emotional factors associated with sexual risk-taking behaviors among young men who have sex with men. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 48, 1127-1136.
11. Goldenberg, T., Jadwin-Cakmak, L., & Harper G.W. (2018). Intimate partner violence among transgender youth: Associations with intrapersonal and structural factors. Violence and Gender. 5(1), 1-7.
12. Goldenberg, T., Stephenson, R., & Bauermeister J. (2018). Community stigma, internalized homonegativity, enacted stigma and HIV testing among young men who have sex with men. Journal of Community Psychology. 46(4), 515-528.