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Ashley Lacombe-Duncan
Associate Professor of Social Work
Dr. Ashley Lacombe-Duncan received her MSW (2010) and PhD (2018) from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on healthcare access and health equity, with a particular focus on healthcare access for people who experience multiple forms of intersecting oppressions. Specifically, her community-based interdisciplinary research agenda advances two overarching areas: (1) Sexual and reproductive healthcare access among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (trans), queer and other sexuality and gender diverse (LGBTQ+) people and women living with HIV, with a substantive focus on trans women living with HIV; and, (2) Social ecological, intersectionality and multi-level stigma theoretical approaches applied to understand and address LGBTQ+ and women living with HIV’s health in local and global contexts. Lacombe-Duncan’s work informs interventions to remove multi-level barriers and increase access to intersectionally affirming healthcare. Lacombe-Duncan has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Lacombe-Duncan is also core faculty of the U-M Center for Sexuality and Health Disparities, associate director of the School of Social Work [Sexuality | Relationships | Gender] (SRG) Research Collective and adjunct scientist at Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, Canada, where she co-leads the community-based Trans Women HIV Research Initiative. Her macro social work practice experience includes policy analysis, grant writing, practice-informed research, program development and program evaluation in community-based and hospital health and mental health settings.
Research Interests/Focus
Healthcare access and equity; social determinants of health; intersectional stigma and discrimination; LGBT people; people living with HIV; mixed methods; systematic reviews; community-based participatory research
Contact Information
| Phone | Room | Address | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (734) 764-7803 | [email protected] | 3726 SSWB | University of Michigan School of Social Work 1080 S. University Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 |
Education
| Year | Degree | School | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | PhD | Social Work | University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario CANADA |
| 2010 | MSW | University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario CANADA | |
| 2008 | BS | Health Studies | University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario CANADA |
| Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Ortiz, G.C., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Emrick, B., Underhill, A., Côté, P., Kyne, L.T., Besharati, A.A.,Armstong, I., Fung, R., Chan, L.Y.L., Weisdorf, T., & Loutfy, M. (2025, January). Factors associated withtrans women's recency of last visit with a primary care physician: Implications for social work researchand practice. Accepted for oral presentation at the 29th Annual Society for Social Work and ResearchConference, Seattle, WA. |
| 2025 | Ortiz, G.C., & Lacombe-Duncan, A. (2025, January). Trans health in the context of social and legalgender affirmation in Canada: A scoping review. Accepted for oral presentation at the 29th Annual Societyfor Social Work and Research Conference, Seattle, WA. |
| 2025 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Ortiz, G.C., Kluger, H., Iyer, H., Underhill, A., Fung, R., Armstrong, I., Kia, H., &Loutfy, M. (2025, January). A scale to center and measure trans women/transfeminine persons’satisfaction with feminizing hormone therapy: Results of the feminizing hormone satisfaction scale (FEMSQ). Accepted for oral presentation at the 29th Annual Society for Social Work and Research Conference,Seattle, WA. |
| 2024 | Doll, K., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Newman, P. (2024, June). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic ongender-affirming healthcare access among transgender and gender diverse persons in Toronto, Canada:A convergent parallel mixed methods study. Accepted for oral presentation at the Canadian Associationfor Social Work Education 2024 Conference, Montreal, Canada. |
| 2024 | Kattari, S.K., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Emrick, B., Alexander, F., Kluger, H., Kattari, L., Niedzwiecki, A., Scheim, A. & Misiolek, B. (2024, January). “It's a Big Ordeal”: A Mixed Methods Study of the Experiences of Non-HIV STI Testing Among Trans and Gender Diverse People. Accepted for oral presentation at the 28th Annual Society for Social Work and Research Conference, Washington, DC. |
| 2024 | Doll, K., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Gill, M., Ichikawa, V., Tepjan, S., Sebastian, S., Massaquoi, N., Tharao,W., & Newman, P.A. Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gender-Affirming Healthcare Access Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons in Toronto, Canada: A Convergent Parallel Mixed Methods Study. Accepted for oral presentation at the 28th Annual Society for Social Work and Research Conference, Washington, DC. |
| 2024 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Ichikawa, V., Gill, M., Doll, K., Tepjan, S., Sebastian, S., Massaquoi, N., Tharao, W. & Newman, P.A. (2024, January). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of transgender and gender diverse persons in Toronto, Canada: A convergent parallel mixed methods study. Accepted for oral presentation at the 28th Annual Society for Social Work and Research Conference, Washington, DC. |
| 2023 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Ortiz, G.C., & Kluger, H. (2023, November). Developing a Scale to Measure Trans Women’s Satisfaction with Feminizing Hormone Therapy: Preliminary Results of the FEM-SQ. Accepted for oral presentation at the 3rd Annual Trans Women HIV Research Initiative (TWIRI) Conference, Toronto, Canada |
| 2023 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y Shokoohi, M., Underhill, A., Machouf, N., Côté, P., Wheatley, M, Gupta, M., Kyne, L.T., Besharati, A.A., Chan, L.Y.L., Hranilovic, S., Nguyen, Q., & Loutfy, M. (2023, January). Factors associated with HIV prevalence among a Canadian clinical cohort of transgender women in Canada: Informing interventions to address health inequities. Accepted for poster presentation at the 27th Annual Society for Social Work and Research Conference, Phoenix, AZ. |
| 2023 | Loutfy, M., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y., Amrstrong, I. Fung, R., Scarsi, K., Tseng, A., Chan, L.Y.L., Nguyen, Q., Weisdorf, T., Hranilovic, S., Halpenny, R., Jyarajah, N., Kovchazov, G., & Iyer, H. (2023, February). Estradiol concentrations in trans women on INSTIs compared to those without HIV. Accepted for poster presentation at CROI 2023, Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Seattle, WA. |
| 2023 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y., Shokoohi, M., Underhill, A., Machouf, N., Côté, P., Wheatley, M., Gupta, M., Kyne, L.T., Besharati, A.A., Chan, L.Y.L, Hranilovi, S., Nguyen, Q., & Loutfy, M. (2023, February). HIV prevalence and associated factors among a clinical cohort of transgender women in Canada: Bridging gaps in knowledge for priority populations. Accepted for poster presentation at the International Workshop on HIV and Women 2023, Seattle, WA. |
| 2023 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Kattari, L., Kattari, K., Scheim, A.I., Alexander, F., Yonce, S. & Misiolek, B. (2023, January). Barriers and facilitators to HIV testing among transgender and nonbinary persons in Michigan, United States: Results of a community-based survey. Accepted for oral presentation at the 27th Annual Society for Social Work and Research Conference, Phoenix, AZ. |
| 2023 | Berringer, K., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Green, J., Jacobs, A., & Hamdi, A. (2023, January). Geographies of HIV care: Imagining virtual care before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Accepted for oral presentation in the symposium “In the Field: Theorizing Space and Place in Social Work Research and Practice” at the 27th Annual Society for Social Work and Research Conference, Phoenix, AZ. |
| 2023 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Kattari, S.K., Emrick, B., Alexander, F., Kattari, L., Kluger, H., Scheim, A., & Misiolek, B. (2023, April). Improving non-HIV STI testing access among trans and nonbinary people: Results of a community-based mixed-methods study. Accepted for oral presentation at the 5th European Professional Association for Transgender Health (EPATH) Conference, Killarney, Ireland. |
| 2023 | Newman, P.A., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Chakrapani, V., Massaquoi, N., Tepjan, S., Akkakanjanasupar, P., Roungprakhon, S., & Dinh, D. (2023, April). Intersectional experiences of COVID-19 and HIV among LGBTQ+ people living with HIV-Protective behavior adherence, pandemic distress, and HIV care disruptions: A mixed methods study (#SafeHandsSafeHearts). Accepted for oral presentation at the 32nd Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) Conference, Quebec City, QC, Canada. |
| 2023 | Iyer, H., Persad, Y., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Kennedy, V.L., Nation, K., Underhill, A., Armstrong, I., Kia, H., MacKinnon, K., Bilbao-Joseph, C., Kaida, A., Bourns, A., Logie, C., Tharao, W., Worthington, C., & Loutfy, M. (2023, April). Adapting and operationalizing the Women-Centered HIV Care Model for trans women living with HIV. Accepted for oral presentation at the 32nd Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) Conference, Quebec City, QC, Canada. |
| 2023 | Armstrong, I., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Shokoohi, M., Persad, Y., Tseng, A., Fung, R., Underhill, A., Côté, P., Machouf, N., Saucier, A., Varriano, B., Brundage, M., Jones, R., Weisdorf, T., Goodhew, J., MacLeod, J., & Loutfy, M. (2023, April). Feminizing hormone therapy in a Canadian cohort of transgender women with and without HIV. Accepted for oral presentation at the 32nd Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) Conference, Quebec City, QC, Canada. |
| 2023 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Emrick, B., Alexander, F., Kluger, H., & Kattari, S.K. (2023, June). Access to non-HIV STI testing among trans and nonbinary people: Bridging gaps in research to promote health equity. Accepted for oral presentation at the LGBTQ Research Symposium, Virtual. |
| 2022 | Jacobs, A., Lacombe-Duncan, A. (2022, June). Exploring HIV providers’ considerations of trans women in gender-specific care. Invited presentation, Professional Association for Social Workers in HIV/AIDS (PASWHA), Virtual. |
| 2022 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y., Shokoohi, M., Underhill, A., Machouf, N., Côté, P., Wheatley, M., Gupta, M., Kyne, L., Besharati, A., Chan, L., Hranilovic, S., Nguyen, Q., & Loutfy, M. (2022, April). Factors associated with HIV prevalence among a Canadian clinical cohort of transgender women. Accepted for poster presentation at the 31st Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research. [Virtual] |
| 2022 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Jacobs, A. (2022, May). A qualitative exploration of HIV care providers' considerations of trans women in gender-specific HIV care. Accepted for poster presentation at the 34th National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS, New Orleans, LA. |
| 2022 | Gerke, D.R., Kattari, S.K., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Call, J., & Misiolek, B. (2022, July). Examining PrEP cascade engagement in a statewide sample of transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse adults in the United States. Accepted for poster presentation at the 24th International AIDS Conference, Montreal, Canada. |
| 2022 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Jacobs, A. (2022, December). Equity and inclusion of trans women in womenspecific HIV care: Results of a qualitative study and implications for HIV care. Accepted for poster presentation at the 9th Annual National Conference for HIV, HCV, STIs, Harm Reduction, & LGBTQ Health (SYNC 2022). Online. |
| 2022 | MacKinnon, K.R., Enxuga, G., Kia, H., Ashley, F., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Abramovich, A. & Ross, L.E. (2022, July). Expanding gender-affirming care: Examining the gender identities and support needs of people who de/retransition. International Congress on Law & Mental Health. Lyon, France. |
| 2022 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Logie, C.H., Persad, Y., Leblanc, G., Nation, K., Kia, H., Scheim, A.I., Lyons, T., Horemans, C., Olawale, R., & Loutfy, M. (2022, January). Reducing discrimination and bias and improving gender-affirming care competency through a provider education intervention: Implementation and evaluation of Transgender Education for Affirmative and Competent HIV and Healthcare (TEACHH). Accepted for poster presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 26th Annual Conference, Washington, DC. |
| 2022 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Kia, H., Logie, C.H., Todd, K., Persad, Y., Leblanc, G., Nation, K., Scheim, A.I., Lyons, T., Horemans, C., & Loutfy, M. (2022, January). Recommendations to advance equitable access to HIV prevention, treatment, and support: A qualitative study of the experiences of transgender women and service providers. Accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 26th Annual Conference, Washington, DC. |
| 2022 | Newman, P.A., Reid, L., Lacombe-Duncan, A., & Tepjan, S. (2022, January). Bullying victimization of LGBTQ+ youth: A methodological scoping review of qualitative research. Accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 26th Annual Conference, Washington, DC. |
| 2021 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Hranilovic, S., & Persad, Y. (2021, December). Reproductive and sexual health for transgender people living with HIV – Researcher, health care provider, and community perspectives. Invited presentation, International Workshop on HIV and Transgender People, 2021, Virtual. |
| 2021 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Logie, C.H., Persad, Y., Leblanc, G., Nation, K., Kia, H., Scheim, A.I., Lyons, T., Horemans, C., & Loutfy, M. (2021, November). Development, implementation, and evaluation of a provider education intervention: Transgender Education for Affirmative and Competent HIV and Healthcare (TEACHH). Paper accepted for poster presentation at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality 2021 Annual Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico. |
| 2021 | Kattari, S. K., Kattari, L., Johnson, I., Lacombe-Duncan, A., & Misiolek, B. (2021, November). Differential experiences of mental health among transgender and gender diverse adults. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) 67th Annual Program Meeting, Orlando, Florida. |
| 2021 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Shokoohi, M., Persad, Y., Underhill, A., Machouf, N., Wheatley, M., Gupta, M., Kyne, L., Fung, R., Arbess, G., Hranilovic, S., Weisdorf, T., Bourns, A., Chan, L., & Loutfy, M. (2021, May) Charting HIV care for trans women in clinical care: Findings from the Montreal-Toronto Trans Study (MTTS). Paper accepted for oral presentation at the 30th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research. [Virtual] |
| 2021 | Medeiros, P., Yu, A., Kazemi, M., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y., Kihembo, M., Islam, S., Gormley, R., Logie, C., de Pokomandy, A., Kaida, A., & Loutfy, M., on behalf of the CHIWOS Research Team. (2021, May). Exploring the experienes and related care gaps among women living with HIV in Canada using concept mapping of Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS) findings. Paper accepted for poster presentation at the 30th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research. [Virtual] |
| 2021 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Logie, C.H., Persad, Y., Leblanc, G., Nation, K., Kia, H., Scheim, A.I., Lyons, T., Horemans, C., & Loutfy, M. (2021, May). Implementation and Evaluation of a Provider Education Intervention: Transgender Education for Affirmative and Competent HIV and Healthcare (TEACHH). Paper accepted for poster presentation at the National LGBTQ Health Conference: Bridging Research & Practice. [Virtual] |
| 2021 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Andalibi, N., Roosevelt, L., Wojciechowski, K. & Weinstein-Levey, E. (2021, January). Understanding LGBTQ+ peoples’ experiences of stigma and resilience in the context of pregnancy loss: Implications for social work practice. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 25th Annual Conference. [Virtual] |
| 2020 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y. (2020, July). Trans women and sexual health. Invited presentation, SCORA Virtual Xchange, Virtual. |
| 2020 | Kay, E. S., Lacombe-Duncan, A., & Pinto, R. (2020, January). Poverty is associated with missing HIV primary care appointments: How can social workers help? Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 24th Annual Conference, Washington, DC, United States. |
| 2020 | Pinto, R., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Kay, E.S., & Berringer, K. (2020, January). Expanding knowledge about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation: A methodological review to inform social work research and practice. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 24th Annual Conference, Washington, DC, United States. |
| 2020 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Newman, P., Logie, C.H., Bauer, G., Persad, Y, Shokoohi, M., O’Brien, N., Kaida, A., de Pokomandy, A., & Loutfy, M. (2020, January). Access to gender-affirming healthcare and medical transition for transgender women living with HIV: A mixed-methods study. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 24th Annual Conference, Washington, DC, United States. |
| 2020 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y., Warren, L., Soor, J., Kia, H., Underhill, A., Logie, C.H., Kazemi, M., Kaida, A., de Pokomandy, A., & Loutfy, M., on behalf of the CHIWOS Research Team. (2020). Mental health among transgender women living with HIV: Findings from the Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the 29th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research, Quebec City, QC, Canada. |
| 2020 | Persad, Y., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Logie, C.H., Leblanc, G., Nation, K., Kia, H., Scheim, A.I., Lyons, T., & Loutfy, M. (2020, June). Community-based research to promote HIV prevention, treatment and support access for transgender women: Developing the ‘Transgender Education for Affirmative and Competent HIV and Healthcare (TEACHH)’ workshop. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the 42nd Annual Guelph Sexuality Conference, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. |
| 2020 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y. (2020, June/July). Building on the strengths of transgender women living with HIV in the context of healthcare navigation: A qualitative study of how transgender women living with HIV respond to intersecting stigmas in healthcare. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Joint World Conference on Social Work Education and Social Development (SWESD), Rimini, Italy. |
| 2020 | Kattari, S.K., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Schultz, K., Hawkins, J., Kattari, L. (2020, June/July). Reconceptualizing the teaching of social justice and diversity: Co-creating a more critical foundation course. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Joint World Conference on Social Work Education and Social Development (SWESD), Rimini, Italy. |
| 2020 | Gamarel, K., Jadwin-Cakmak, L., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Trammell, R., Reyes, L.A., Burks, C., Campbell, B., Harper, G.W., Arnold, E. (2020, July). Harnessing resilience in violence and HIV prevention intervention research with, for, and by transgender women of color in Detroit, Michigan. Paper accepted for poster presentation at the 23rd International AIDS Conference, AIDS 2020: Virtual, Online. |
| 2019 | Persad, Y., Lacombe-Duncan. A. (2019, November). Mental health and psychological wellbeing among trans women living with HIV in Canada. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Canadian Professional Association of Transgender Health Conference 2019: Advancing Trans Health and Wellbeing in Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. |
| 2019 | Persad, Y., Lacombe-Duncan. A. (2019, November). Community-led knowledge translation and exchange: Development of the inaugural Trans Women HIV Research Initiative Conference. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Canadian Professional Association of Transgender Health Conference 2019: Advancing Trans Health and Wellbeing in Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. |
| 2019 | Lacombe-Duncan, A. & Persad, Y. (2019, November). Access to gender-affirming medical care for trans women living with HIV in Canada: A mixed methods study. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Canadian Professional Association of Transgender Health Conference 2019: Advancing Trans Health and Wellbeing in Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. |
| 2019 | Newman, P.A., Guta, A. & Lacombe-Duncan, A. (2019, January). Beyond the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) "cascade": Addressing social, community, and structural challenges in biomedical HIV prevention for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 23rd Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| 2019 | Lacombe-Duncan, A. (2019, January). A qualitative study of intersectional stigma and discrimination of transgender women living with HIV: Implications for HIV vulnerability and access to HIV-related care. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 23rd Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| 2019 | Lacombe-Duncan, A. & Persad,Y. (2019, April). Resilience, resistance, and transformation: A qualitative study of how transgender women living with HIV respond to intersecting stigmas in healthcare. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the 2019 National Transgender Health Summit, San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| 2019 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Persad, Y., Newman, P.A., Bauer, G.R., Logie, C.H., & Loutfy, M. (2019, May). Genderaffirming healthcare for transgender women living with HIV: A mixed-methods study. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the 2019 National LGBTQ Health Conference, Atlanta, GA, United States. |
| 2019 | Lacombe-Duncan, A., Bauer, G.R., Logie, C.H., Newman, P.A., Shokoohi, M., Kay, E.S., Persad, Y., O’Brien, N., Kaida, A., de Pokomandy, A., Loutfy, M. (2019, May). A mixed-methods investigation of the HIV care cascade among transgender women with HIV in Canada. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the 28th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. |
| 2019 | Persad, Y., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Underhill, A., Kazemi, M., Wong, H., Brundage, M, Loutfy, M. (2019, May). Community-led knowledge translation and exchange: Development of the inaugural Trans Women HIV Research Initiative Conference. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the 28th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. |