LaRon Nelson

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LaRon E. Nelson, PhD, MS, BS

Assistant Professor

Cross-Appointments

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University College
Visiting Assistant Professor of Medicine, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco
Visiting Scholar, The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health

Contact Information
Address: 155 College Street, Rm. 252
Phone: (416) 946-0105
Email: laron.nelson@utoronto.ca

Research

Dr. Nelson joined the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing in July 2009. Prior to joining the faculty, he served as the Associate Director of Public Health and Chief of Public Health Practice and Evaluation with the Monroe County Department of Public Health in Rochester, New York. Dr. Nelson’s program of research involves the development of integrated biomedical, behavioural, and social/structural interventions for the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmissible infections among socially marginalized groups within African and African Diaspora communities. His current research focuses on understanding how autonomy supportive counselling strategies, gender equitable attitudes and socio-culturally (and developmentally) relevant co-parenting promotion can be used to reduce STD/HIV risk behaviours among non-married adolescent parents in Toronto, Ontario and New York, New York. Dr. Nelson is also conducting research in Ghana, West Africa focused on the use of autonomy supportive social networks as media for promoting gender equitable norms, safer-sex (condom use) and healthcare seeking (STD/HIV screening and treatment) behaviours among men most-at-risk for STD/HIV infection. He is also involved with the HIV Prevention Trials Network’s six-city research study (HPTN Protocol 061) on Black men who have sex with men. Dr. Nelson’s research has been funded by Grand Challenges Canada, National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Nelson also serves as Health Sciences Chair of the Black Canadian Queer Research Network and the Vice Chair of the Black Gay Research Group.

Dr. Nelson is clinically trained in the primary care of families, with an emphasis on the care of adolescents. He completed a U.S. Maternal Child Health Bureau funded Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) fellowship with the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. His clinical practice has been in various community based settings, including as a registered nurse (RN) in a local public health sexually transmitted diseases clinic and correctional facility, and a nurse practitioner (NP) in an adolescent health clinic. He maintains active RN and NP licensures in the State of New York and prescriptive authority with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. In 2011 Dr. Nelson was inducted as a Distinguished Practitioner in the U.S. National Academies of Practice and has received numerous other awards and for his community-based research and clinical practice.

Dr. Nelson teaches in both the undergraduate [UG] and graduate [G] programs. At present, he teaches:

NUR 1035: Critical Perspectives in Public and Population Health [G]
NUR 1030: Principles of Leadership and Advance Clinical Practice in Emergency Preparedness (G)
NUR 461: Primary Health Care: Urban Health (focus on adolescents) [UG]

Degrees

2009- PhD (Health Practice Research), University of Rochester
2004- MS (Nursing), University of Rochester
2002- BS (Nursing), University of Rochester

Selected Awards

2011- Canada’s Rising Star in Global Health, Grand Challenges Canada, Canada

2011- Distinguished Practitioner, National Academies of Practice, USA

2009- Rochester Business Journal Top 40 people under 40, Rochester, NY

2008- Community Leader of the Year, Black Men Latino Men Health Crisis, Rochester NY

2008- Emerging African American Leader in Rochester, Democrat & Chronicle Newspaper, Rochester NY

2006- Community Leader of the Year, Men of Color Health Awareness (MOCHA) Center, Rochester NY

Selected Grants

2011-2013. Nelson, L. E., Boyer, C., & Comfort, M. (Principal Investigator). Health
Improvement Project for Young Parents: Building a Program of Research that Addresses
Sexual Health Disparities among African-American Teen Mothers and the Fathers of their
Children. National Institute of Minority Health & Health Disparities, Loan Repayment Program:
$70,000 USD.

2011-2012. Nelson, L. E., Apea, V., Poku, T., Bailey, M. M., Wilton, L., Fields, S. D., Malebranche, D. J., Cobbinah, M., & Luu, H. N. (Principal Investigator). Kumasi & Accra Project to Prevent AIDS: An integrated biomedical, behavioral, social and structural approach to HIV prevention among men most at risk in Ghana. McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Grand Challenges Canada: $113,000 CAD.

2011-2012. Nelson, L. E., Siddiqi, A., Regan, R., & Mayer, K. H. (Principal Investigator). Identifying Municipal-level social/structural predictors of HIV infection among Black men who have sex with men. HIV Prevention Trials Network & National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: $53,797 USD.

2010-2011. Nelson, L. E., McCready, L. T., & Gesink, D. (Principal Investigator). A relational
health assessment of urban adolescent and young adult mothers and fathers. Lawrence S.
Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, Bertha J. Rosenstadt Nursing Research Fund: $5,000 CAD.

2010-2011. Nelson, L. E. & Mayer, K. H. (Principal Investigator). When sunday comes: The impact of non-affirming church environments on the health behaviors of Black men who have sex with men. HIV Prevention Trials Network & National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases: $42,145 USD.

2010-2011. Tang, S., Nelson, L. E., Wong, J. P., & McCready, L. T. (Co-Investigator). Social
Justice Curriculum in Nursing: Challenges, Opportunities, and Possibilities. Lawrence S.
Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, Nursing Education Research Development Fund: $11,980 USD.

2008-2010. Monroe County New York school-based influenza immunization program. Investigators: Doniger, A. S., Humiston, S., Nelson, L., Schaffer, S., Szilagyi, P. & Bennett, N. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: $600,000 USD.

2004-2008. Nelson, L.,E., Morrison-Beedy, D., & Aten, M. (Principal Investigator). Partner-type influence on condom use among Black adolescent mothers. National Institute of Nursing Research: $122,506 USD

2006. Nelson, L. E. (Principal Investigator). A qualitative descriptive exploration in the condom use decision of young Black mothers: Perspectives on the fathers of their children. Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Rochester: $370 USD

Selected Publications

Nelson, L. E., Morrison-Beedy, D., Kearney, M. H., & Dozier, A. (in press). Black adolescent
mothers’ perspectives on sex and parenting in non-marital relationships with the birth fathers
of their children. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecological, & Neonatal Nursing.

Nelson, L. E., & Morrison-Beedy, D. (in press). Conducting intervention research in public health settings. In B. M. Melnyk & D. Morrison-Beedy (Eds.), Designing, Conducting, Analyzing and Funding Intervention Research for Publication: A Practical Guide for Success. New York: Springer.

Bayoumi, A. M., Degani, N., Remis, R. S., Walmsley, S. L., Millson, P., Loutfy, M., Daly, T., Nelson, L. E., Gardner, S., Challacombe, L., Mishra, S., Bierman, A. S. (2011). HIV Infection. In A. S. Bierman’s (Ed.), Project for an Ontario Women's Health Evidence-Based Report, Vol 2. Toronto.

Nelson, L. E. (2011). A review of couples, gender, and power: Creating change in intimate
relationships. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 37, 327-328.

Nelson, L. E., Morrison-Beedy, D., Kearney, H., & Dozier, A. (2011). Always, never, or
sometimes: Examining variation in condom-use decision making among Black adolescent
mothers. Research in Nursing & Health, 34, 270-281.

Nelson, L. E., Morrison-Beedy, D., Kearney, H., & Dozier, A. (2011). Sex-partner type
taxonomy use among urban African-American adolescent mothers. Canadian Journal of
Human Sexuality, 20, 1-10.

Nelson, L.E., Morrison-Beedy, D. (2008). Sex partner type and condom use in African-American adolescent mothers: A literature review. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 21, 213-219.

Nelson, L.E., Morrison-Beedy, D. (2008). Research team training: Moving beyond the job description. Applied Nursing Research, 21, 159-164.

Volpe, E., Nelson, L.E., Kraus, R., Morrison-Beedy, D. (2007). Adaptation and refinement of the HIV knowledge questionnaire for use with adolescent girls. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 18, 57-63.

Morrison-Beedy, D., Nelson, L.E., Volpe, E. (2006). HIV risk behaviors and testing rates in adolescent girls: Evidence to guide clinical practice. Pediatric Nursing, 31, 508-514.

Morrison-Beedy, D., Nelson, L.E. (2004). HIV prevention interventions in adolescent girls: What is the state of the science? Worldviews on Evidence Based Practice, 1, 165-175.