Mary Gerend, PhD

Dr. Gerend’s program of research focuses on cancer prevention, particularly among socially marginalized groups. One of her primary lines of research has investigated factors that affect people’s decisions to get vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection that can cause cancer. The goal of this work is to develop and test interventions for increasing HPV vaccination, particularly among populations disproportionately affected by HPV-related cancers such as Latinas and sexual minority men. Dr. Gerend also has extensive experience designing health messages to promote behavior change. More recently she started another line of research on weight stigma and health. This work aims to identify psychological, physiological, and behavioral factors associated with risk and resilience to weight stigma.