Study Personnel

Natasha Crooks, PhD,BSN,RN
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing
Affiliate Faculty at Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science

Dr. Crooks is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development Nursing Science within the College of Nursing at UIC. Her research program centers on addressing sexual health disparities in Black girls and women. The motivation for her research stems from her clinical experiences in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Her future research goals include developing and conducting a multi-level STI/HIV prevention intervention to improve Black female sexual and reproductive health across the life course.

Gina Sissoko
Clinical Psychologist

Gina (Diagou) Sissoko is a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center. She is also a predoctoral resident in clinical psychology at UIC. Sissoko’s work focuses on the impact of colorism, gendered racism, and trauma on sexual health, mental health and system involvement among marginalized populations—with a global focus on Black women and girls. Her dissertation examined the manifestation and impact of colorism on Black adolescent girls through a critical participatory action research framework. Gina is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and a NASEM Ford Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellow. She is the founder of the BlackGIRL Project, a research collective aimed at solving social problems impacting Black women and girls. As part of her clinical training, Gina has worked in forensic assessment, substance use, child and adolescent psychiatry, and child welfare and assessment settings.

Char’Lee King, BS
Study Recruiter

Ms. Char’Lee King is an LGBTQ+ Reproductive Health Specialist and HIV activist. She is HIV Campaigns Manager at Advocates for Youth, a nonprofit organization and advocacy group dedicated to sexuality education, HIV and other sexually transmitted disease prevention, and youth sexual health equity. With her work at Advocates for Youth she spearheads various projects that strengthen young people’s access to HIV, prevention, treatment, and care resources as well as co-directing communiTEA, a project that trains young Black women impacted by HIV.

India Willis, MPH, MSN, FNP-BC, AAHIVS
Nurse Practitioner

As a public health program advisor monitoring HIV grants for the State of Illinois Department of Public Health, India Willis recognized her desire to care for those living with HIV and subsequently completed a master’s in nursing, family nurse practitioner program at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Now nationally board-certified as a family nurse practitioner and by the Academy of HIV Specialists, she is committed to health equity through comprehensive primary, HIV and gender-affirming care.

Willis currently works in The Potocsnak Family Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and is pursuing a PhD in Translational Health Science at The George Washington University. She received a BS in physiology from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and a Master of Public Health with a concentration in health education at Benedictine University.

Randi Beth Singer, PhD,MSN,CNM,RN
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing

Dr. Singer brings scientific expertise related to human sexuality and reproductive healthcare. The current application builds logically on Dr. Singer’s current funding and prior work with vulnerable populations. Singer’s work is grounded in social justice and focuses on vulnerable populations, including pregnant and non-pregnant LGBTQ patients, nursing student impact on the sexual health of minority youth. Substantive content areas include sexual health, cultural safety, curriculum design and implementation, LGBTQ+ care, Community Based Service Learning. A nurse-midwife and sexologist, Singer brings her reproductive and sexual health clinical understanding.

Karen Cotler DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP
Clinical Consultant
Clinical Assistant Professor University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing

Dr. Karen Cotler is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Nursing Science at the University of Illinois Chicago. She is a board-certified FNP who’s clinical practice is focused on vulnerable and underserved populations, and her area of scholarship is focused on improving health outcomes of sexual and gender minority populations.

Geri Donenburg, PhD
Co-Investigator
Professor of Psychology University of Illinois Chicago Psychiatry College of Medicine
Associate Dean of Research

Dr. Geri Donnenberg is a Professor of Medicine and Psychology in the College of Medicine and is the director of the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science (CDIS) and the Healthy Youths Program (HYP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has extensive experience conducting NIH-funded research nationally and internationally as Principal Investigator/Co-Principal/Co-investigator of more than 20 federally funded studies totaling more than 25 million. Dr. Donnenburg has published widely on youth outcomes related to HIV prevention and the Healthy Youths Program\includes a number of HIV/AIDS risk and prevention studies.