Javier Garcia-Perez

Bio

Javier Garcia-Perez is a Provost Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of Pennsylvania’s SAFELab. He is an interdisciplinary, intersectional, and community-centered researcher focused on improving the quality of life for the LGBTQ+ and Latinx community across the life span.

Dr. Garcia-Perez’s research focuses on centering the LGBTQ+ Latinx community to inform health and well-being interventions. His dissertation work, “Viviendo en la Intersección: Queer Femme Latinx Individuals Experience Living at the Intersection of Identities,” highlights that queer femme Latinx individuals: (1) make meaning around their identities through creativity; (2) develop adaptive behaviors for the current social, political, and legislative climate; and (3) demonstrate a strong sense of self-worth and self-love.

He acquired training in youth development and socioemotional learning working with predominantly Black and Brown middle school students in Harlem, New York as an Extended Learning Time program director. He continued his training in individual therapeutic modalities—like CBT, psychoeducation, and trauma informed care—with Latinx communities solely in Spanish. Dr. Garcia-Perez has led support groups for Latinx immigrant women, and a high school student group to support newly-arriving students’ transition into the school community. He conducted psychological evaluations in partnership with attorneys for Latinx individuals seeking asylum.

Dr. Garcia-Perez is continuing his community-centered research working with the LGBTQ+ community to focus on how joy can be leveraged in intervention development through a holistic and community guided framework.