Research Areas

The Tan Lab advances health equity science through methodologically rigorous, community-engaged, social and behavioral research with marginalized populations. Take a further look at our current research projects and grants.

By Your Side (BYS) is a trauma-informed smoking and vaping cessation intervention for gender- and sex-minoritized communities. By Your Side is unique in its approach to addressing tobacco-use disparities through peer-led and trauma-informed support for gender-expansive individuals seeking gender-affirming care. The intervention curriculum is informed by transgender and gender-expansive people of color with smoking-cessation experience, as well as experienced researchers and community members.

The LetSync project aimed to strengthen HIV care engagement within relationships in which at least one partner is a Black or African American cisgender man or transgender woman living with HIV. LetSync is among the first interventions designed to examine shared health outcomes within couples and other intimate partnerships, rather than focusing solely on individual outcomes. The study developed and refined the LetSync mobile application, intervention and study procedures while assessing their feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy in promoting adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

United Voices was an online group-singing intervention designed to promote psychosocial wellbeing among older LGBTQ+ adults living with HIV. The intervention sought to serve as a "social cure" for stigma by fostering group identity, social connection and belonging. Study findings assessed the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention and its procedures to inform future quality improvement and research efforts.

The Lung Cancer Stigma Study examines the attitudes, perspectives and experiences of patients with lung cancer who receive care at Cedars-Sinai and its affiliated sites. The study focuses specifically on patients' experiences of guilt, shame and stigma related to their diagnosis. A secondary objective is to examine associations between participants' responses and clinical and molecular characteristics identified through electronic medical records and next-generation sequencing data.