Dr. Luseno has over 20 years of experience conducting research and program evaluation in the US and in a number of sub-Saharan African countries. Her academic training includes a PhD in public health (i.e., maternal and child health, and health behavior and education) from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She also has a BSc and MSc in applied economics from Egerton University, Kenya, and University of Wisconsin at Madison, respectively.
Dr. Luseno has served as Principal Investigator (PI), Project Director, or Co-Investigator on several federally funded projects. These include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to adapt and to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions to reduce HIV risk behaviors, substance use, and victimization. Additionally, Dr. Luseno was the PI on a recently completed NIH-funded R01 in Kenya to examine ethical issues in the conduct of HIV research with adolescents and on an associated supplemental grant to examine ethical issues in the implementation of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) as an HIV prevention strategy among adolescents. She was also the PI on a completed NIH-funded R21 study that examined adolescent HIV prevalence, use of HIV health related services, and barriers and facilitators to accessing care in Kenya, including among pregnant and parenting adolescents and young adults living with HIV. Furthermore, she served as the HIV lead on a study funded by the Office of Women’s Health (OWH) to enhance HIV and IPV screening, prevention, and response among at-risk women in Kentucky.
Currently, Dr. Luseno is the PI on a NIH-funded R21 to develop and evaluate a digital intervention to address intersectional stigma among pregnant unmarried adolescents living with HIV in Kenya. She also serves as the Evaluation Project Director for a project funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to expand screening, referral and trauma-informed services to meet the needs of children exposed to domestic violence and mothers who have experienced domestic violence in Kentucky.