Dr. S. Raquel Ramos, PhD, MBA, MSN, FNYAM, FAHA, FAAN is an Associate Professor at the Yale School of Nursing with a secondary appointment in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health. She serves as Associate Director of the Clinical Health Services Research Core at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS.
Dr. Ramos leads a well-funded interdisciplinary research program that applies artificial intelligence and digital health to prevent HIV and HIV-related cardiometabolic disparities. Her research program demonstrates meaningful impact by translating scholarship on HIV and HIV-related disparities into scalable, implementation-ready interventions and clinically translatable digital tools using rigorous mixed methods, observational designs, and randomized trials to generate original, high-quality evidence. Ramos’ funding includes NIH R01 awards testing behavioral interventions to prevent chronic conditions. She also holds philanthropic support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to develop CARDIO, a large language model that delivers personalized cardiovascular disease prevention education in clinical settings.
Ramos was recognized by the AARP, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Campaign for Action, and American Academy of Nursing as the inaugural Equity-minded Nurse Researcher. This award is recognition of her scholarship and body of research that advances health optimization. Dr. Ramos is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Nursing. She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and also Sigma Xi International Honor Society for Science and Engineering. Ramos is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC) and the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR). She serves on the Editorial Boards for Annals of Behavioral Medicine and BMC Public Health. Ramos completed advanced investigator training at the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, the NIH Summer Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials, and the UCLA mHealth Summer Institute.
Dr. Ramos was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Yale School of Nursing. She earned her PhD from Columbia University and her MSN, MBA, and BSN from Purdue University.
Research Interests
Dr. Ramos’ interdisciplinary research program applies artificial intelligence and digital health to prevent HIV and HIV-related cardiometabolic disparities using rigorous mixed methods, observational designs, and randomized trials to generate original, high-quality evidence.
Xiao C, Gaffey A, Vela A, Pondugula N, Ramos SR. (2025). AI for Health: Benefits of AI in Healthcare. Healthy Living Series. Society of Behavioral Medicine. https://www.sbm.org/healthy-living/ai-for-health-benefits-of-ai-in-healthcare
Ramos SR. (2024). Positive Ways to Use Technology in Nursing Research. Campaign for Action. AARP. https://campaignforaction.org/positive-ways-to-use-technology-in-nursing-research/
Ramos SR, Gaffey A, Rabbani MS, Kang B, McCall T. (2023). Sleep: A Mind, Body, & HEART Experience. Healthy Living Series. Society of Behavioral Medicine. https://www.sbm.org/healthy-living/how-sleep-affects-mind-body-and-heart-health
Gaffey A, Ramos SR, Nishimuta K. Intimacy, Sexual Health, and Wellbeing in Heart Disease. Healthy Living Series. (2023). Society of Behavioral Medicine. https://www.sbm.org/healthy-living/how-heart-disease-affects-intimacy-sexual-health-and-wellbeing
Uribe JS, Boyar K, Ramos SR. Bringing Research to Life for Undergraduate Nursing Students Using a Design Thinking Model. In Innovative use of concept care planning in a large class. Innovative strategies in teaching nursing: Exemplars of optimal learning outcomes 2020. Springer.
Selected Publications/Presentations
Ramos SR, Ying R. A Nursing and Computer Science Perspective on Confronting Chronic Illness and Environmental Responsibility in AI Research. Nursing Reports. 2026; 16(3):94. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep16030094
Rullo R, Maatouk A, Huang T, Chen J, Qiu W, O’Connor G, Womack J, Sadak T, Rodriguez C, Carneiro P, Ramos SR. Interdisciplinary development and fine-tuning of cardio, a large language model for cardiovascular health education in hiv care: Tutorial. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2025 Sep 12;27:e77053. doi: 10.2196/77053
Kang B, Chin L, Camacho-Rivera M, Garza M, de Jesús Espinosa T, Cong X, Fraser M, Boutjdir M, Ramos SR. Intervention mapping for systematic development of a community-engaged CVD prevention intervention in ethnic and racial sexual minority men with HIV. Frontiers in Public Health. 2025 Feb 26;13:1529152.
Ramos SR, Reynolds H, Johnson C, Melkus G, Kershaw T, Thayer JF, Vorderstrasse A. Perceptions of HIV-Related Comorbidities and Usability of a Virtual Environment for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Education in Sexual Minority Men With HIV: Formative Phases of a Pilot Rand
Ramos SR, Kang B, Jeon S, Fraser M, Kershaw T, Boutjdir M. Chronic Illness Perceptions and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Behaviors in Black and Latinx Sexual Minority Men with HIV: A Cross-Sectional Analysis. Nursing Reports. 2024 Aug 8;14(3):1922-36.
Ramos SR, Lardier DT, Bond KT, Boyd DT, O’Hare OM, Nelson LE, et al. Participatory Design of a Web-Based HIV Oral Self-Testing Infographic Experiment (HOTIE) for Emerging Adult Sexual Minority Men of Color: A Mixed Methods Randomized Control Trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021;18(22):11881.
Ramos SR, Lardier DT, Warren RC, Cherian M, Siddiqui S, & Kershaw T. Substance use, general health, and health literacy as predictors of oral health in emerging adult sexual minority men of color: A secondary data analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2021 Jan;18(4):1987.
Ramos SR, O’Hare OM, Colon AH, Jacobs SK, Campbell B, Kershaw T, Vorderstrasse A, Reynolds HR. Purely Behavioral: A Scoping Review of Nonpharmacological Behavioral and Lifestyle Interventions to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease in Persons Living With HIV. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. 2020 Sep 1;32(5):536-47.
Ramos SR, Paintsil E, Ofori-Atta A, Kusah JT, Amissah AA, Ofori IP, Reynolds NR. Prototype development, usability, and preference of a culturally relevant pictorial aid to facilitate comprehension of Likert-type levels of agreement in caregivers of children living with HIV in Ghana. Computers, Informatics, Nursing. 2020 Jan;38(1):45
Ramos SR, Warren RC, Shedlin M, Melkus G, Kershaw T, and Vorderstrasse A. A framework for using eHealth interventions to overcome medical mistrust among sexual minority men of color living with chronic conditions. Behavioral Medicine. 2019; Apr 3;45(2):166-76.
Ramos SR. User-Centered design, experience, and usability of an electronic consent user interface to facilitate informed decision-making in an HIV clinic. Comput Inform Nurs. 2017; Nov;35(11):556-564.
Ramos SR, Gordon P, Bakken S, Schnall R. Sociotechnical analysis of health information exchange consent processes in an HIV clinic. The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. 2016; Nov - Dec;27(6):792-803. Epub 2016 Aug 16.
Presentations
Ramos SR. (2026, April). Integrating Behavioral Interventions into Primary Care as a PrEP Implementation Strategy. Invited Presentation 2026 Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit. Chicago, IL.
Ramos SR. (2026, January). Leveraging Large Language Models for Equitable Access to CVD Prevention Knowledge and Care in Addressing Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Oral virtual Presentation at The Second Annual World Congress on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. St. Lucia, Virgin Islands.
Ramos, SR (2024, November). Designing Behavioral Interventions to Reduce CVD Risk among SGM Individuals. Podium Presentation 2024 American Heart Association’s Centennial Scientific Sessions, Chicago, IL.
Ramos, SR (2024, April). Technology as a Tool to Facilitate Trust, Access, and Reach of Behavioral Interventions in Historically Marginalized Populations. Keynote Speaker. 2024 Urban Health Research Conference. Wayne State University College of Nursing. Detroit, MI.
Ramos SR. (2023, January). Formative and technology-enabled strategies to prevention of chronic conditions in sexual minority men of color: Lessons learned & opportunities for the future. University of Washington / Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research.
Ramos SR, Boyd DT, Guillaume G, Camacho-Rivera M, and Fraser M. (2021, April). Formative development of a multi-level, community-engagement protocol to prevent CVD in sexual minority men of color living with HIV: The gaming protocol study. Abstract presentation at the 2021 NHLBI Program to Increase Diversity Among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research Annual Meeting.
Ramos SR. (2016, June). User-centric design of a health information exchange eConsent for Persons Living with HIV: results from a mixed methods study. Podium presentation at: AcademyHealth 2016 Annual Research Meeting. Boston, MA.
