Sarah T. Roberts

Sarah Roberts is an investigator in the Women’s Global Health Imperative (WGHI), a group within RTI International’s Social and Statistical Sciences Group dedicated to improving the health status of women and girls around the world. Dr. Roberts’ research focuses on the biological, behavioral, social and structural factors that increase the risk of HIV/STI for women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the role of gender inequality, male engagement, and intimate partner violence, and in the design of interventions to maximize uptake of and adherence to biomedical HIV prevention strategies in women.

Dr. Roberts’ additional research experience includes studies of mathematical modeling of ART roll-out, clinical studies of TB diagnosis in HIV-infected persons, and malaria case-finding in rural areas She completed her PhD in Epidemiology in 2016, with dissertation research focused on gender-based violence and HIV risk among female sex workers and HIV-serodiscordant couples in Kenya and Uganda.

At RTI, Dr. Roberts is currently a co-Investigator on several studies on oral PrEP and vaginal microbicides for HIV prevention among young African women, and provides technical input on the behavioral assessments for several other related protocols. She has extensive experience in study design and implementation, including training and mentoring research staff; regulatory compliance; development of protocols and standard operating procedures; data management and quality control; and preparing budgets and financial reports. In addition, she has experience with quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, analysis, and manuscript preparation. Dr. Roberts is a member of RTI’s Global Gender Center, and is interested in collaboration opportunities related to gender and violence, stigma and discrimination, HIV/AIDS, and sexually transmitted infections in young women and female sex workers, as well as opportunities to continue her research in TB, HIV treatment, and malaria.