Transitions Project Staff

  • Susan Kegeles, Principal Investigator [e-mail]

  • Jae Sevelius, Co-Principal Investigator [e-mail]


    Jae Sevelius, PhD, is a Post-Doctoral Scholar with the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS). At CAPS, Dr. Sevelius is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Transitions Project, which provides capacity building assistance and technical assistance to community based organizations and health departments throughout the U.S. to promote knowledgeable, sensitive, and effective HIV/AIDS prevention for transgender communities of color and HIV+ transgender people. In addition, she is the Principal Investigator on two transgender specific research studies, one focusing on HIV risk behaviors among transgender men who have sex with men and another on the experiences of transgender women who have been incarcerated. As Co-Principal Investigator of the CoE, Dr. Sevelius is the liaison to CAPS and is responsible for the systematic review and synthesis of existing transgender HIV prevention research and programs in California, and identifying research priorities, best practices, and service gaps to inform a report on emerging issues and a research agenda for transgender HIV prevention in California.
  • Paul Cotten, Project Director [e-mail]

  • JoAnne Keatley [e-mail]


    JoAnne Keatley, MSW, was born in Mexico City and became a citizen of the U.S. in 1986. Ms. Keatley received her Master of Social Welfare degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Beginning at CAPS in 1999 JoAnne has directed numerous NIH transgender research projects and co-founded the Transgender Resources and Neighborhood Space (TRANS) project. She is Chair of San Francisco Transgender Empowerment Advocacy and Mentorship (SFTEAM) and has served on the UCSF Chancellor’s Advisory committee on LGBT issues since 2000. In addition, she has consulted on transgender health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). As Director of the Center of Excellence for Transgender HIV Prevention (CoE), Ms. Keatley is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the CoE scope of work. She develops the infrastructure to support a successful and sustainable CoE, provides day to day leadership of CoE staff, oversees the state-wide Community Advisory Board, supervises the design and implementation of the website, identifies potential funding sources, assures the quality of deliverables, and is the liaison with the California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS and community partners.
  • Luis Gutierrez-Mock [e-mail]


    Luis Gutierrez-Mock, MA, is a fierce biracial, queer, transgender, Chicano. He received his Master’s Degree in Human Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State University (SFSU) in 2005 and is currently completing his second Master’s Degree in Ethnic Studies at SFSU. His role on the Transitions Project as a Capacity Building Assistance Specialist involves providing technical assistance to agencies implementing HIV interventions with transgender populations. Prior to joining the Transitions Project in 2008, he worked as the primary case manager at Bay Area Young Positives, the world’s first peer-based HIV/AIDS youth agency. He recently co-authored the Bay Area Multiracial Youth Health and Wellness Guide with Dr. Andrew Jolivette and is published in Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity edited by Matt Bernstein Sycamore (Seal Press, 2006).

    Luis sits on the Board of Directors of Interracial Family Pride, an agency serving mixed heritage and transracially adopted youth and their families. The creator of Mixed Fruit Productions, he produces events featuring LGBT mixed race people and LGBT transracial adoptees. He has been a featured performer in The National Queer Arts Festival, Mixed Fruit, Gender Pirates, Trans as F*ck, and many other events throughout the Bay Area.