TARA MCKAY
sociologist. EDUCATOR.thought leader.
with Samuel Mann and Gilbert Gonzales
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high-impact research on the social and policy determinants of health for lgbtq+ people, families, and communities
Dr. Tara McKay, PhD (she/her), is a nationally recognized expert in the field of LGBTQ+ population health, policy, and aging. She is co-founder and Director of the Vanderbilt LGBTQ+ Policy Lab, which was recognized by the National Institutes of Health for advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in health research in 2024. She is also Interim Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Research on Inequality and Health and Co-Director of the Tennessee Center for AIDS Research Health Policy and HIV Scientific Working Group.
Her research examines the social and policy contexts that shape health over the life course among LGBTQ+ populations. In 2024, Dr. McKay received a Mid-Career Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health and the Vanderbilt University Chancellor's Award for Research. Her work has been cited over 2800+ times and engaged with by academic colleagues writing from institutions in over 36 countries. Her research has been supported by $10 million in grants as Principal Investigator from the National Institutes of Health and other awards as Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator from the National Science Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Retirement Research Foundation, and the Commonwealth Foundation totaling over $1.75 million. She was recently featured on the PBS Aging Matters series (episode: Aging with Pride, June 2022). PBS also produced an 2:30 minute special focusing on the findings of her research.
ACTIVE STUDIES
- PI, The LGBTQ+ Social Networks, Aging, and Policy Study (R01/RF1AG063771)
- MPI, "A Multimethod Assessment of the Clinical, Economic & Social Impact of the Rejection of Federal HIV Prevention Funds in Tennessee" (R61/R33MD019323)
APPOINTMENTS
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Health, and Society, Vanderbilt University
Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Director, Vanderbilt LGBTQ+ Policy Lab, winner of the 2024 NIH DEIA Prize
Interim Director, Vanderbilt Center for Research on Inequality and Health
Director, Health Policy and HIV Scientific Working Group, Tennessee Center for AIDS Research
FACULTY AFFILIATIONS
Alzheimer’s Dementia Research Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Center for Child Health Policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies, Vanderbilt University
Department of Sociology, Vanderbilt University
Program for LGBTQ Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Tennessee Center for AIDS Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center