About

Colette (Coco) Auerswald is a clinical professor in the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, holding academic positions at both the Berkeley and San Francisco campuses of the University of California. She is a pediatrician specialized in adolescent medicine with a research focus on the social determinants of health affecting society’s most disadvantaged youth. Her work emphasizes structural interventions to improve health outcomes for marginalized youth populations, including youth experiencing homelessness, low-income youth of color, and LGBTQ youth. Auerswald employs a community collaborative and youth-engaged approach in her research, utilizing mixed qualitative and quantitative methods in adolescent health studies. She is the co-founder and co-director of i4Y (Innovations for Youth) and serves as the faculty lead for the Ending Youth Homelessness Catalyst Group. Her contributions include advancing understanding of youth experiencing homelessness, addressing stigma in adolescent health, and promoting youth participatory action research. Auerswald’s educational background includes an MD from the University of California, San Francisco, and a BA in Social Studies from Harvard University. Her work has been featured in various media outlets, highlighting her efforts to address youth homelessness and health disparities.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Gerontology
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Internal medicine
• Geography
• Demography
• Family medicine
• Psychiatry
• Economic growth
• Nursing
• Developmental psychology

Selected publications

• Understanding stakeholder perspectives on integrating and sustaining a vertical HIV prevention program into routine health services in Zimbabwe: a qualitative study

  2025-06-09

  preprintSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Understanding stakeholder perspectives on integrating and sustaining a vertical HIV prevention programme into routine health services in Zimbabwe: a qualitative study

  BMJ Global Health · 2025-08-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: The transition of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), an HIV prevention service, in Zimbabwe from a donor-funded to a government-owned programme involves the collective efforts and alignment of national and subnational government leaders, managers, healthcare providers, village health workers, community members, donors and implementing partners. We sought to understand stakeholders' perspectives on barriers, facilitators and recommendations as a vertical HIV prevention programme transitioned to an integrated, government-led model. METHODS: We conducted 54 semistructured stakeholder interviews at the national and subnational levels. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. RESULTS: Participants highlighted a range of psychological and structural barriers and facilitators to integrating and sustaining the VMMC programme. Respondents mentioned financing and staffing barriers to integration, particularly a lack of domestic resources, the transition from a fee-for-service to a facility-based performance model and staff attrition. Notably, resistance to changing the VMMC programme's operations was a significant barrier that may be tied to individual psychological barriers such as loss of power and job security. Donors and partners continued to control the funding for VMMC. Ideally, the Ministry of Health and Child Care should have more autonomy over these decisions. At the subnational level, there is an opportunity for increased responsibility and a greater sense of ownership through the decentralisation of governance. CONCLUSIONS: To ensure successful integration and local ownership of VMMC as an HIV prevention programme, stakeholders must address both psychological and structural barriers while aligning their perspectives on the transition. Individual providers have valid concerns about their financial security and the burden of additional responsibilities without adequate compensation. It is crucial for donors and partners to reduce their involvement and oversight. Additionally, resolving the financial barriers that prevent the government from having complete control of the programme will require empowering local government stakeholders to fully take ownership.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Challenges and facilitators to sexual and reproductive health care for undocumented in-transit migrant women in Mexico: a qualitative study

  Frontiers in Reproductive Health · 2025-09-26

  articleOpen access

  Background: The number of international migrants has steadily increased over the past decade. Among them, undocumented in-transit migrant women (UITMW) face heightened vulnerability to gender-based violence and complex sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs. However, limited evidence exists on the challenges state and non-state actors face in delivering SRH services to this population. This qualitative study explores the barriers encountered by service providers and decision-makers in Mexico when addressing UITMW's social and health needs through an SRH lens, and identifies facilitators that may support more effective service delivery. Methods: Between August and November 2023, we conducted 31 in-depth interviews with 36 service providers, migration experts, and local and federal decision-makers in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua City, and Mexico City. Guided by McLeroy et al.'s socioecological model, we examined challenges and facilitators at individual, institutional, community, and structural levels. Data were analyzed using a framework analysis approach. Results: Participants identified 11 challenges and 9 facilitators influencing SRH service provision for UITMW. Key challenges included: (1) policies and resource allocations are shaped by the perception of migration as temporary; (2) growing anti-immigrant sentiment undermine community-level service delivery; (3) religious restrictions in faith-based shelters limit access to certain SRH services; and (4) biases among healthcare providers affect quality of care. Notable facilitators included structural reforms such as strengthened migration and health governance and improved multi-level collaboration to enhance service access. Conclusion: This study underscores the complex, multi-level barriers to delivering SRH care to UITMW in Mexico. Findings point to research and policy priorities, including examining the long-term impacts of migration and health policies on SRH service availability, evaluating alternative delivery models, analyzing the role of media in shaping public opinion, and involving UITMW and local stakeholders in policy development. Addressing these gaps could improve SRH outcomes for UITMW and strengthen the broader health system response for both migrant and local populations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Harmonizing voices: A collaborative, cross-cultural approach for adolescent sexual and reproductive health research

  Advances in Global Health · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  International research studies often leverage the knowledge and lived experience of in-country investigators to develop data collection tools and analyze the resulting data, but not that of local research staff. Recognizing this missed opportunity, the Maneno Yetu study implemented a novel collaborative, cross-cultural approach that leveraged our team members’ knowledge of the study communities. Our U.S.- and Kenya-based research team jointly participated in interview guide development and data analysis for focus group discussions exploring sexual and reproductive health behaviors of Kenyan adolescents. Our Kenya-based team members drew from their own adolescence growing up in similar environments to develop an interview guide that resonated with our study population and conducted the data analysis, with training and mentoring by U.S.-based members. We created a team structure and research environment that promoted egalitarianism, inclusiveness, and collectiveness within the rigor of a National Institutes of Health study. Our approach fostered a supportive working environment, created family-like dynamics, empowered equal partnerships, and amplified investment in the success of the study. Engaging both U.S.- and Kenya-based members in all study phases and integrating capacity building as a study goal helped develop our team’s qualitative research skills. The collaborative team approach strengthened the validity of findings and provided professional development opportunities. Future studies can benefit greatly by leveraging the valuable contributions of all team members, irrespective of educational degree or position title. Given our team’s overwhelmingly positive experience, we encourage other investigators to integrate this collaborative, cross-cultural approach into their research programs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Moving Beyond Tokenism and Toward Meaningful Partnership in Research for Young People Experiencing Homelessness: Findings From a Pilot Internship

  Journal of Adolescent Health · 2025-02-07

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Keeping young researchers out of harm’s way: conducting youth participatory action research with young people experiencing homelessness

  Frontiers in Public Health · 2024-07-03 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Introduction: Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is an approach to conducting research with youth populations in order to effectively engage youth in research that impacts their lives. Young people experiencing homelessness (YEH) are vulnerable to power and social environments in ways that call attention to their experiences in research. Methods: The context for this paper was a qualitative YPAR project to incorporate youth voice into the operations of a larger research study that hired youth as researchers. Participant-researchers provided feedback and consultation with senior staff in order to improve their access to resources, safety, and stability. Results: Themes that emerged from thematic analysis of reflections, discussions, and meetings showed the need for consistent access to food, the risk of environmental violence targeting youth researchers, the structural and experiential barriers to professional engagement, and the benefits that young researchers experienced as part of their work in the study. Discussion: Recommendations and lessons learned are described, notably to ensure that youth are paid and provided food, to construct effective safety plans during fieldwork, and to provide a flexible, inclusive, trauma-responsive approach to supervision of project tasks.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• HIV Infection Among Adolescents Residing in Urban Informal Settlements of Kenya

  AIDS Education and Prevention · 2023-06-01 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Adolescents comprise approximately 15% of new HIV infections in Kenya. Impoverished living conditions in informal settlements place residents at high risk for HIV infection. We assessed factors associated with HIV infection among adolescents residing in urban informal settlements in Kisumu. We recruited 3,061 adolescent boys and girls aged 15-19. HIV prevalence was 2.5% overall, all newly identified cases were among girls and infection was positively associated with not completing a secondary education (p < .001). Girls who had ever been pregnant (p < .001) or out-of-school without completing a secondary education (p < .001) were more likely to be HIV-positive. Our findings of higher HIV prevalence among adolescent girls who had been pregnant or did not complete secondary school highlight the need to facilitate access to HIV testing, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, and sexual and reproductive health services as components of a comprehensive prevention strategy to decrease HIV infections in this priority population.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Positive and Negative Experiences With Supportive Services and Programming: Gaps and Recommendations From Youth Experiencing Homelessness

  Youth & Society · 2023-07-03 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Services for youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) are designed with limited input from the youth themselves. This study explored the experiences and recommendations for services aimed at mitigating the negative effects of homelessness among youth. A total of 45 interviews were conducted with YEH (ages 15 to 24, M = 21.5 years) who experienced at least one night of homelessness. Transcripts were coded by using a modified constructivist grounded theory approach. YEH reported myriad challenges to navigating disjointed programming and misguided policies. Recommendations from YEH for policy and programmatic change include peacekeeping and diffusion training for program staff, trauma-informed approaches, and conflict resolution among agency staff; and integrate creative outlets and transitional services into existing programs. Programming supporting YEH must extend beyond meeting only basic needs to creating opportunities for safety, autonomy, and growth. Programs targeting youth homelessness need input from YEH in their design and implementation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The deployment of discretionary power in the prevention and enactment of structural violence against young people experiencing homelessness

  Child Abuse & Neglect · 2023-05-15 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• 15. The Fallacy of “Systems Literacy”; How Structural Violence in Service Provision Affects the Health of Transgender Youth Experiencing Homelessness

  Journal of Adolescent Health · 2022-03-11

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant K23HD001490

  NIH · $678k · 2005

Frequent coauthors

• Elizabeth A. Bukusi

  Kenya Medical Research Institute

  25 shared

• Alexandra M. Minnis

  RTI International

  25 shared

• Mary A. Ott

  Indiana University School of Medicine

  18 shared

• Jonathan M. Ellen

  Johns Hopkins University

  14 shared

• Nancy Padian

  University of California, Berkeley

  11 shared

• Jessica Lin

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  11 shared

• Marissa Raymond‐Flesch

  11 shared

• Alan Steinbach

  10 shared

Awards & honors

• 2020 Institutional Challenge Grant