Corina Lelutiu-Weinberger, PhD, MPhil, BA
- Associate Professor of Health Sciences Research (in Nursing)
Overview
A social psychologist by training, Corina Lelutiu-Weinberger, PhD, MPhil, BA, has been developing for over a decade several research programs aimed at reducing health inequities. Her research supports racial/ethnic, sexual and gender minorities (SGM) and their healthcare clinics and providers by targeting sources of intersectional stigma and discrimination that pose barriers to health and contribute to disproportionate HIV, substance use, impaired mental health, and other co-morbidities. Since 2009, she has served as principal investigator of eight NIH-funded interventions and co-investigator on several others. During this time, she has designed and successfully delivered in-person and mobile health (mHealth) interventions at the organizational, systems and individual levels.
Lelutiu-Weinberger is the Margaret Conrad Associate Professor of Health Sciences Research, and a core member of the Center for Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research (CSGMHR), Columbia University School of Nursing, and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Anti-Racism Coalition. She is also a steering committee member for the European Public Health Association, Sexual and Gender Minority Health Section.
Prior to joining Columbia University School of Nursing, Lelutiu-Weinberger served as an Associate Professor in the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, School of Nursing (2017-2022). In 2018, she was appointed Endowed Chair in Community Pediatric Nursing at the affiliated François-Xavier Bagnoud Center. Lelutiu-Weinberger also served as Research Scientist at the Hunter Alliance for Research and Translation of Hunter College (2009-2017), and Project Director at the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research at the National Development and Research Institutes (2003-2008) where she began her HIV-focused work. She earned her PhD in social and personality psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (2007), and both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Hunter College of the City University of New York, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. She has been living in New York since 1994.
Lelutiu-Weinberger is the Margaret Conrad Associate Professor of Health Sciences Research, and a core member of the Center for Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research (CSGMHR), Columbia University School of Nursing, and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Anti-Racism Coalition. She is also a steering committee member for the European Public Health Association, Sexual and Gender Minority Health Section.
Prior to joining Columbia University School of Nursing, Lelutiu-Weinberger served as an Associate Professor in the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, School of Nursing (2017-2022). In 2018, she was appointed Endowed Chair in Community Pediatric Nursing at the affiliated François-Xavier Bagnoud Center. Lelutiu-Weinberger also served as Research Scientist at the Hunter Alliance for Research and Translation of Hunter College (2009-2017), and Project Director at the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research at the National Development and Research Institutes (2003-2008) where she began her HIV-focused work. She earned her PhD in social and personality psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (2007), and both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Hunter College of the City University of New York, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. She has been living in New York since 1994.
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor of Health Sciences Research (in Nursing)
Gender
- Female
Credentials & Experience
Honors & Awards
2014 Best Abstract. HIV/AIDS Section of the American Public Health Association
2018 Certificate of Recognition. Rutgers Health
2020 The New Jersey Health Foundation Excellence in Research Award
2020 The Chancellor’s Inaugural Distinguished Health Sciences Investigator Award
2018 Certificate of Recognition. Rutgers Health
2020 The New Jersey Health Foundation Excellence in Research Award
2020 The Chancellor’s Inaugural Distinguished Health Sciences Investigator Award
Research
Grants
R01 MH116829 (Lelutiu-Weinberger & Pachankis)
NIMH
09/05/2018-06/30/23
Building mobile HIV prevention and mental health support in low-resource settings
This project is designed to remedy unaddressed and interlocking HIV-prevention and mental health needs among GBM in the Central Eastern European country of Romania, by testing, in a randomized controlled trial with a large national sample, an mHealth intervention, which reduced US and Romanian GBM’s risk for HIV infection while also reducing depression and alcohol abuse in initial trials.
Role: Principal Investigator
NIMH
07/01/2021-06/30/23 (NCE)
Building mobile HIV prevention and mental health support in low-resource settings (supplement for transgender and gender-diverse mental health)
Transgender and gender diverse (e.g., gender non-binary) (TGD) individuals remain a hidden group in the Central Eastern European country of Romania, primarily due to high structural stigma resulting in a lack of rights and protections, including within healthcare. This study proposes to create and pilot-test the first intervention in the region to support the mental, sexual, and behavioral health of TGD persons in Romania.
Role: Principal Investigator
R01 NR020583 (Lelutiu-Weinberger & Browne)
NINR
07/01/22 – 04/30/27
Ending the HIV epidemic with equity: An all-facility intervention to reduce structural racism and discrimination and their impact on patient and healthcare staff wellbeing
The scope of this study is to engage six Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funded organizations in Ending the HIV Epidemic (ETHE) areas in the South/East US to co-develop context-responsive programs utilizing evidence-informed interventions to reduce structural racism and discrimination (SRD) against Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) living with HIV (PLH) and BIPOC healthcare workers, using a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial to test the SRD reduction intervention named TRAnscenDS.
Role: Principal Investigator
R33TW011752 (Lelutiu-Weinberger & Pachankis);
FIC
07/01/22 – 06/30/25
Preparing for pre-exposure prophylaxis implementation in Central-Eastern European countries with low access to biomedical prevention
This study will adapt to and test in the context of Romania pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake and adherence protocols developed in the US, with the end-goal of embeddedness into clinical practice after completion of all testing phases.
Role: Principal Investigator
Intervention and Implementation Science Award from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (Lelutiu-Weinberger & Jackman)
04/01/23-03/31/2024
A dialectical behavior therapy-based gender-affirming intervention for suicide prevention among transgender and gender-diverse people
This study proposes to adapt and pilot-test an existing evidence-based intervention using dialectical behavior therapy for the general population to prevent suicide-related outcomes among transgender and gender-diverse individuals.
Role: Principal Investigator
NIMH
09/05/2018-06/30/23
Building mobile HIV prevention and mental health support in low-resource settings
This project is designed to remedy unaddressed and interlocking HIV-prevention and mental health needs among GBM in the Central Eastern European country of Romania, by testing, in a randomized controlled trial with a large national sample, an mHealth intervention, which reduced US and Romanian GBM’s risk for HIV infection while also reducing depression and alcohol abuse in initial trials.
Role: Principal Investigator
NIMH
07/01/2021-06/30/23 (NCE)
Building mobile HIV prevention and mental health support in low-resource settings (supplement for transgender and gender-diverse mental health)
Transgender and gender diverse (e.g., gender non-binary) (TGD) individuals remain a hidden group in the Central Eastern European country of Romania, primarily due to high structural stigma resulting in a lack of rights and protections, including within healthcare. This study proposes to create and pilot-test the first intervention in the region to support the mental, sexual, and behavioral health of TGD persons in Romania.
Role: Principal Investigator
R01 NR020583 (Lelutiu-Weinberger & Browne)
NINR
07/01/22 – 04/30/27
Ending the HIV epidemic with equity: An all-facility intervention to reduce structural racism and discrimination and their impact on patient and healthcare staff wellbeing
The scope of this study is to engage six Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funded organizations in Ending the HIV Epidemic (ETHE) areas in the South/East US to co-develop context-responsive programs utilizing evidence-informed interventions to reduce structural racism and discrimination (SRD) against Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) living with HIV (PLH) and BIPOC healthcare workers, using a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial to test the SRD reduction intervention named TRAnscenDS.
Role: Principal Investigator
R33TW011752 (Lelutiu-Weinberger & Pachankis);
FIC
07/01/22 – 06/30/25
Preparing for pre-exposure prophylaxis implementation in Central-Eastern European countries with low access to biomedical prevention
This study will adapt to and test in the context of Romania pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake and adherence protocols developed in the US, with the end-goal of embeddedness into clinical practice after completion of all testing phases.
Role: Principal Investigator
Intervention and Implementation Science Award from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (Lelutiu-Weinberger & Jackman)
04/01/23-03/31/2024
A dialectical behavior therapy-based gender-affirming intervention for suicide prevention among transgender and gender-diverse people
This study proposes to adapt and pilot-test an existing evidence-based intervention using dialectical behavior therapy for the general population to prevent suicide-related outcomes among transgender and gender-diverse individuals.
Role: Principal Investigator
Selected Publications
Recent publications:
- Lelutiu-Weinberger, C., Clark, K., & Pachankis, J.E. Mental health provider training to improve LGBTQ competence and reduce implicit and explicit bias: A randomized controlled trial of online and in-person delivery. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Advance online publication. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000560
- Kerr, J., Lelutiu-Weinberger, C., Nelson, L. E., Turan, J. M., Frye, V., Matthews, D., Leddy, A., Jackson, S., Boyd, D., & Hightow-Weidman, L. B. Integration and tailoring of intersectional stigma interventions to improve implementation of HIV prevention and treatment programs focused on ending the HIV epidemic. Invited paper for the American Journal of Public Health Special Issue on Intersectional Stigma and HIV Implementation Science. Accepted for publication on December 6, 2021.
- Rosengren, L.A., Lelutiu-Weinberger, C., Woodhouse, W.E., Sandanapitchai, P., & Hightow-Weidman, L.B. A scoping review of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis stigma and implications for stigma-reduction interventions for men and transwomen who have sex with men. AIDS and Behavior. 2021;25(7):2054-2020. PMID: 33389319. DOI:10.1007/s10461-020-03135-2.
- Lelutiu-Weinberger C., English D, Sandanapitchai P. The roles of gender affirmation and discrimination in the resilience of transgender individuals in the U.S. Behavioral Medicine, Special Issue on Resilience and Health. 2020;46(3-4):175-188.
- Patel V.V., Rawat S., Dange A., Lelutiu-Weinberger, C., Golub S.A. An Internet-Based, Peer-Delivered Messaging Intervention for HIV Testing and Condom Use Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in India (CHALO!): Pilot Randomized Comparative Trial. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance. 2020;6(2):e16494.
- Lelutiu-Weinberger, C., Wilton, L., Koblin, B., Hoover, D.R., Hirshfield, S., Chiasson, M.A., Nandi, V., Usher, D., & Frye, V. The role of social support in HIV testing and PrEP awareness among young black men and transgender women who have sex with men or transgender women. Journal of Urban Health. 2020; 97(5):715-727. PMID: 31898199. PMCID: PMC7560661
For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.