Who We Are
The Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health (CLAFH)
The Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health (CLAFH) has a core team of researchers and project coordinators who work throughout the United States, Mexico, and the Spanish speaking Caribbean. Alongside the core scientific team, numerous part-time staff members, students, interns, and partners support the Center’s work. The members of CLAFH’s core team are:
Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, MPH, LCSW, RN, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAAN is the founding Director of the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health (CLAFH), the Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Solutions and a tenured full professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.
Dr. Guilamo-Ramos is a nurse practitioner dually licensed in adult health (ANP-BC) and psychiatric-mental health nursing (PMHNP-BC). His program of research focuses on family-based disease prevention and health promotion, particularly among Latinos and other people of color. This research draws on an interdisciplinary perspective grounded in nursing, public health, and social welfare to address persistent health disparities among underserved communities in the U.S. Specifically, his research encompasses three primary areas: (1) documentation of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) inequities, with a focus on Latino and other racial/ethnic minoritized youth; (2) development of family-based interventions designed to prevent adverse SRH outcomes and promote uptake of SRH services; and (3) evaluation and large-scale dissemination of interventions, particularly family-based, nurse-led, and team-based approaches to prevention and health care service delivery.
Widely regarded as an expert, scholar, and leader in Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and developing, evaluating, and translating family-based adolescent and young adult health interventions, Dr. Guilamo-Ramos’ research has been funded externally for two decades by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Center for Disease Control (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and various federal agencies. He has published extensively in leading scientific journals, including: The Lancet Infectious Diseases, The Lancet HIV, Clinical Infectious Diseases, JAMA Pediatrics, Pediatrics, and the American Journal of Public Health. His research and scholarship have also been featured by well-known media sources such as The New York Times, NPR, and The Washington Post.
Dr. Guilamo-Ramos was a member of the ad hoc NASEM Committee on Unequal Treatment Revisited: The Current State of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare and the NASEM Standing Committee on Reproductive Health, Equity, and Society. In addition, he serves on the Board of UnidosUS, the largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States.
Adam Benzekri, MS, MPH is a Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University, Project Director, and Psychologist at CLAFH. At CLAFH, he is involved in every step of the research process including study design, the development of grant proposals, implementation of funded projects, data management, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and dissemination of research findings. Mr. Benzekri’s research interests lie in the intersection between psychology, public health, and neuroscience. Specifically, his research seeks to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative healthcare delivery models and primary prevention approaches that formally integrate theories of decision-making and parental influence to address inequities (e.g., unfair, avoidable, unjust differences in behavioral health outcomes) during adolescence and young adulthood. His work has been published in leading scientific journals including Nature Medicine, JAMA Pediatrics, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, The American Journal of Public Health, Development and Psychopathology, and Annual Review of Developmental Psychology. Adam holds an M.S. degree in Neuroscience and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, an M.P.H. degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences from NYU, and B.S. degrees in Psychology and Molecular and Microbiology from the University of Central Florida.
Brenda Amezquita-Castro, MPP is an Assistant Research Scientist at the CLAFH at Johns Hopkins University, and doctoral candidate in Health Policy and Management at UNC’s Gillings School of Public Health. Drawing on her diverse background and intersectional perspectives, Ms. Amezquita-Castro collaborates with senior scientists at CLAFH to shape the design, execution, and analysis of private and federally funded research projects that address historical inequities and reflect inclusivity and equity. With a robust background in outcomes research, organizational management, and policy analysis, Ms. Amezquita-Castro specializes in the intersection of health informatics and healthcare, focusing on improving equity, accessibility, and efficiency across healthcare systems. Her research aims to optimize the delivery of health care services and inform health policymaking through innovative and transformative patient-centered practices that align with individuals’ needs. Ms. Amezquita-Castro is also an experienced educator and linguist, with fluency in Spanish, English, and proficiency in French.
Marco Thimm-Kaiser, MPH is a Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University and Epidemiologist at CLAFH. He coordinates study design, development of grant proposals, data analysis, and dissemination of research findings at CLAFH. His research focuses on psychiatric epidemiology, with an emphasis on adolescent and young adult mental and behavioral health, and conceptual and methodological issues in social epidemiology. His work has been published in leading scientific journals including The Lancet HIV, The American Journal of Public Health, The Milbank Quarterly, and JAMA Pediatrics, and he has been a contributor to The Hill and The Conversation.
Stephen Stafford, BA is a public health professional with more than 30 years’ experience working to end health inequities in government, public and private sector settings. He has served as a health care aide to a US Congressman, directed the continuing medical education department of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, led the communications and special projects departments of the Adolescent AIDS Program at Montefiore Medical Center, and since 2007 has worked in South Africa leading PEPFAR-funded HIV/AIDS projects that deliver community-based prevention and care services to underserved populations. In 2022 he joined the CLAFH team, where he provides strategic programmatic and communications support to optimize the Center’s efforts to end health and health care inequities.
