Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Kate Rucinski, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist with a focus on sexual and reproductive health research that promotes the health and wellbeing of marginalized populations in resource-limited settings.
Research Interests
key populations; sexual and reproductive health; adolescent girls and young women; HIV prevention and treatment; pregnancy; contraception; implementation research; program data
Experiences & Accomplishments
Kate Rucinski is an epidemiologist with a focus on women’s sexual and reproductive health, key populations, and HIV prevention and treatment. Specifically, her research aims to inform more holistic sexual and reproductive health programs for marginalized populations including women living with HIV, sex workers, and adolescent girls and young women in resource-limited settings. She is particularly interested in the use of routinely collected observational data to define opportunities for improved service delivery in Southern and Eastern Africa.
Select Publications
Representative publications from the last two years.
Rucinski K, Knight J, Willis K, Wang L, Rao A, Roach MA, Phaswana-Mafuya R, Bao L, Thiam S, Arimi P, Mishra S, Baral S. Challenges and Opportunities in Big Data Science to Address Health Inequities and Focus the HIV Response. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2024 Aug;21(4):208-219. doi: 10.1007/s11904-024-00702-3. Epub 2024 Jun 25. PMID: 38916675; PMCID: PMC11283392.
Wolfe A, Roach MA, Turpin G, Syarif O, Looze P, Lalak K, Anoubissi JD, Chiu YC, Volgina A, Brion S, Dunaway K, Stryzhak O, Ocheret D, Sprague L, Garcia de Leon Moreno C, Baral SD, Lyons C, Rucinski KB. Characterising the effects of displacement on gender-based violence among women living with HIV in Ukraine: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Glob Health. 2025 May 8;10(5):e016478. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-016478. PMID: 40345703; PMCID: PMC12067787.
Loeb T, Willis K, Velishavo F, Lee D, Rao A, Baral S, Rucinski K. Leveraging Routinely Collected Program Data to Inform Extrapolated Size Estimates for Key Populations in Namibia: Small Area Estimation Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2024 Apr 4;10:e48963. doi: 10.2196/48963. PMID: 38573760; PMCID: PMC11027056.
Roach MAE, Loeb T, Willis K, Sing'oei V, Owuoth J, Crowell TA, Polyak CS, Rao A, Baral S, Rucinski KB; RV393 Study Group. Profiles of Sexual Economic Exchanges among Women in Kisumu, Kenya: A Latent Class Analysis. Arch Sex Behav. 2025 Feb;54(2):495-506. doi: 10.1007/s10508-024-03020-2. Epub 2024 Oct 29. PMID: 39472396; PMCID: PMC11835520.
Rucinski K, Masankha Banda L, Olawore O, Akolo C, Zakaliya A, Chilongozi D, Schwartz S, Wilcher R, Persaud N, Ruberintwari M, Baral S. HIV Testing Approaches to Optimize Prevention and Treatment for Key and Priority Populations in Malawi. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022 Mar 7;9(4):ofac038. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofac038. PMID: 35265725; PMCID: PMC8900928.