Epi Bio Department Dissertation Defense - Heather Santos, MPH
Thursday, July 17, 2025
12:00 PM-2:00 PM
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dissertation Defense:
Heather Santos, MPH, will present "Intersectionality, Gender Affirmation, Social Support, and Suicidality
among Transgender and Non-Binary People in Canada."
Transgender and non-binary (TNB) people experience suicidal ideation and
attempts at a higher rate compared to the general population. These disparities
may be driven by minority stressors and gender non-affirmation. This
dissertation used an intersectional lens to characterize TNB-specific risk and
protective factors of suicide. First, we identified subgroups of TNB people
with varying levels of suicidality based on their social identities and
positions. Second, we examined associations between social and legal gender
affirmation and suicidality. Finally, we identified latent classes of TNB
participants based on their level of social support and estimated the
association between class membership and suicide risk. These findings
underscore the need for individual-level and structural interventions such as
legal gender recognition policies and accessible mental health care for diverse
TNB people.
Heather is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology under the supervision of Dr.
Ayden Scheim. Her
research focuses on risk and protective factors of suicide among
transgender and non-binary people.
Dissertation Committee: Ayden Scheim, PhD (chair), Félice Lê-Scherban, PhD,
MPH, Agus Surachman,
PhD, MS, Greta Bauer, PhD, MPH, Thomas Joiner, PhD
Please email nanderson@drexel.edu
for Zoom information.
Contact Information
Nancy Colon-Anderson
nanderson@drexel.edu