Donny Robert Gerke

As a social work scholar and educator, I am deeply committed to advancing health equity and promoting wellness with those most marginalized in our society. To achieve these goals, I work in partnership with community members to understand and address health disparities that impact LGBTQ+ communities.

Assistant Professor Donny Gerke's research agenda broadly examines mental health, substance use, and other social and environmental determinants of health disparities and health risk behaviors in vulnerable populations, with a focus on LGBTQ+ populations. His scholarship is informed by over five years of post-MSW practice experience in community-based health promotion with adolescent and adult LGBTQ+ populations at risk for HIV, STIs, and substance misuse. His recent studies include: an examination on the relationships between exposure to violence (child abuse and neglect, intimate partner violence, community violence), mental health problems, substance use, and HIV risk behaviors in young Black and White gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men (YMSM) recruited from community-based HIV prevention agencies, evaluations of a live and automated two-way text-messaging intervention and a peer educator intervention to improve HIV-related health outcomes among Black YMSM living with HIV, and an exploration of health literacy and health care access among transgender and non-binary Coloradans. Dr. Gerke teaches Power Privilege, & Oppression, Substance Use Interventions, Evolving Perspectives and Trends in Health and Wellness, and Pedagogy in Social Work Education.