Areas of Specialty
- Mental Health
- Substance Use
- Health disparities
- Sexual and gender minority youth
- Individual heterogeneity in treatment response
Undergrad: Pomona College - B.A. Sociology (magna cum laude)
Graduate: The University of New Mexico - M.A. Sociology
Doctoral: The University of New Mexico - Ph.D. Sociology ( with distinction)
Achievements & Awards
2022 Best Dissertation in Sociology of Mental Health, American Sociological Association
Featured Article: Anthropologists Discuss Diversity of Humanity at Annual Conference
Key Publications
Kuhlemeier, Alena, David Van Horn, Thomas Jaki, Dawn K. Wilson, Kenneth Resnicow, Elizabeth Y. Jimenez, M. Lee Van Horn. 2025. “Personalized Medicine Predictions to Maximize Weight Loss with a Lifestyle Intervention.” Obesity 33(5): 861-869.
Kuhlemeier, Alena. 2024. “The Impact of LGBTQ-Inclusive Practices on Student Suicidality in New Mexico High Schools.” Journal of LGBT Youth. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2024.2335522.
Kuhlemeier, Alena, Daniel G. Shattuck, Cathleen E. Willging, Mary M. Ramos. 2024. “Comparing Behavioral Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning, and Heterosexual Middle School Students.” LGBT Health. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2023.0477
Kuhlemeier, Alena and Cathleen E. Willging. 2024. “A Multigroup Structural Equation Modeling Approach for Analyzing Differences among Sexually Diverse Youth.” Journal of Homosexuality 72(9): 1726–1750. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2024.2389903
Kuhlemeier, Alena, Thomas Jaki, Katie Witkiewitz, Elizabeth A. Stuart, M. Lee Van Horn. 2024. “Validation of predicted individual treatment effects in out of sample respondents.” Statistics in Medicine 43(22): 4349-4360. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.10187.
Kuhlemeier, Alena. 2022. “Measurement Invariance of Psychological Distress, Substance Use, and Adult Social Support across Race/Ethnicity and Sex among Sexual Minority Youth.” Journal of Sex Research. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2038059
Kuhlemeier, Alena, Thomas Jaki, Elizabeth Yakes Jimenez, Alberta S. Kong, Chi Chang, M. Lee Van Horn. 2022. “Individual Differences in the Effects of the ACTION PAC Intervention in the Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Obesity.” Journal for Behavioral Medicine 45(2): 211:226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-021-00274-2.
Huyser, Kimberly, Aggie Yellow Horse, Alena Kuhlemeier, and Michelle Huyser. 2021. “COVID-19 Pandemic Unveils Persistent Indigenous Erasure in Public Health Data.” American Journal of Public Health 111(S3): S208-S214. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306415.
Kuhlemeier, Alena, Jessica Goodkind, and Cathleen Willging. 2021. “Production and Maintenance of the Institutional In/visibility of Sexual and Gender Minority Students in Schools.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 91(4): 558-568. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000556.
Kuhlemeier, Alena, Yasin Desai, Alexandra Agenbroad, Katie Witkiewitz, Thomas Jaki, Yu-Yu Hsaio, Chi Chang, and M. Lee Van Horn. 2021. “Applying Methods for Personalized Medicine to the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 89(4), 288–300. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000634.
Kuhlemeier, Alena. 2024. “The Impact of LGBTQ-Inclusive Practices on Student Suicidality in New Mexico High Schools.” Journal of LGBT Youth. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2024.2335522.
Jaki, Thomas, Chi Chang, Alena Kuhlemeier, and M. Lee Van Horn. 2024. “Predicting individual treatment effects: Challenges and opportunities for machine learning and artificial intelligence.” Künstliche Intelligenz [German Journal of Artificial Intelligence]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13218-023-00827-4
Courses Taught
PH 101: Intro to Population Health
PH 310: Public Health Research Methods