For addressing social inequities and health disparities among LGBTQ+ youth by identifying modifiable factors that protect against suicide and facilitate healthcare utilization.

Dr. Taliaferro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences, College of Medicine at the University of Central Florida. She is a public health researcher who received her Ph.D. in Health Behavior from the University of Florida. She completed specialized training in adolescent health and development through a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the Healthy Youth Development - Prevention Research Center, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on suicide prevention and receipt of high-quality healthcare for LGBTQ+ adolescents and emerging adults. She conducts strengths-based, intersectional mixed-methods research with diverse LGBTQ+ young people, examining effects of modifiable protective factors across individual, interpersonal, community, system, and structural levels on mental health outcomes and healthcare utilization. Her research has been funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute of Mental Health, and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In recognition of her research, she received a National Institutes of Health Sexual and Gender Minority Early Stage Investigator Award, UCF Reach for the Stars Award, UCF Research Incentive Award, UCF Women of Distinction Award, and UCF COM Early Career Investigator Award for Achievement in Research.