Sean Valenzuela Arayasirikul

Biography

Sean Arayasirikul, Ph.D. (they/them), is Associate Professor In-Residence and Co-Director of the PhD Programs in Public Health and Health, Society, & Behavior in the Department of Health, Society and Behavior at the Joe C Wen School of Population & Public Health at the University of California, Irvine. They also serve as Co-Director of the Center for Gender and Health Justice at the University of California Global Health Institute and Founding Director of The Legacy Center at Wen Public Health and. The Legacy Center is focused on advancing health equity, justice, and liberation for sexual and gender minoritized (SGM) and all communities through education, research, and community engagement. Dr. Arayasirikul received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, San Francisco in 2016.

Dr. Arayasirikul's research focuses on digital and mobile health interventions, community-engaged research, and health equity among sexual and gender minoritized communities, particularly transgender women and LGBTQ+ people of color. They are the principal investigator of multiple federally funded studies, including an NIH Director's New Innovator Award (DP2AI164315) supporting "One Ballroom," a national mixed methods longitudinal study examining intersectional HIV stigma and HIV prevention and care among sexual and gender minorities of color in the House and Ballroom Community. They also leads a National Library of Medicine-funded training program (R25LM014575) to advance gender and health justice research and education. Their work has resulted in over 70 peer-reviewed publications with an h-index of 25.

Dr. Arayasirikul was a Fellow of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Program and has received multiple NIH Loan Repayment Program awards. They created the SHINE Strong Training Program, the first training and mentoring program committed to developing HIV behavioral scientists with expertise in trans population health. Their community-engaged approach to research has been recognized through their governmental appointment on the Orange County HIV Planning Council and as a board member of TruEvolution, and their work has been featured in outlets including The Atlantic, Science, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Prior to academia, Dr. Arayasirikul has over a decade of frontline public health experience, cross-training substance use and HIV care providers, providing HIV/STI testing and prevention services in non-traditional settings (e.g. mobile clinics, and in situ testing or in community testing), case managing young people living with HIV, creating health promotion programs, and federal service at the Health Resources and Services Administration and the US DHHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Education

• Ph.D. in Sociology, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), 2016
• B.A. in Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 2005

Distinctions

• Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practices, Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, UC Irvine, 2025
• Dean's Honoree for Excellence in Teaching, UC Irvine Wen School of Population & Public Health, UC Irvine Division of Teaching Excellence & Innovation, 2024
• TIME Champion, The Institute for Meaningful Engagement (TIME), Samueli School of Engineering, University of California Irvine, 2023-2026
• Fellow, Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2021-2024
• Fellow, Inter-Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) Implementation Science Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University, 2020
• Diversity Scholar, Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions, 2018
• Scholar, LGBTQ Scholars of Color Conference, The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 2015
• Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award, University of California, San Francisco, 2014
• Fellow, Minority Fellowship Program, American Sociological Association, 2011