Roles
Professor of Professional Practice
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Biography
Dr. Sonjia Kenya is a Full Professor of Medicine in the Departments of Medicine and Public Health Sciences. She received her bachelors degree from University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and earned two masters degrees and her doctorate at Columbia University in New York. Since joining the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 2007, she has made tremendous scientific contributions towards improving sexual health and leads some of the most rigorous research programs in the County.
Dr. Kenya founded the CHAMP HIV prevention program, which started as a small research study and grew into the County’s largest publicly-funded, street-based ,sexual wellness clinic in six years. She also created the CREW research training program, which prepares scholars from the U.S. Virgin Islands, a designated health professional shortage area, to develop healthcare careers to attenuate the persistent healthcare shortage plaguing this U.S. territory. Currently, she is the R01 principal investigator of INSTACARE, which deploys community health workers to improve outcomes in people with HIV. In partnership with the department of urology, Dr. Kenya also leads an innovative study addressing erectile dysfunction in young men.
Dr. Kenya’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, the Pfizer Foundation, Gilead Pharmaceuticals, and the Florida Department of Health. Her studies have led to significant changes in sexual health policies and she routinely trains medical students and doctors to deliver culturally-competent sexual health care. Her scientific accomplishments have been featured in dozens of academic journals, lay publications, and the multi media outlets, including CBS, PBS, Vice news, and the Black News Channel, as she frequently educates lay people through public speaking and media appearances.
In 2025, she was inducted into Sigma xi, the International Scientific Honor Society and in 2024, she received a proclamation to the the City of Miami from Mayors Daniella Levine and Frances Suarez. In 2023, She was South Florida's Educator of the year and graced the cover of Legacy Magazine. In 2022, she received the Sapphire Award from the Florida Blue Foundation for being a Health Equity Champion for the State of Florida. She has also been honored with numerous other awards for her contributions to community health and medical education.
As an avid fitness and yoga instructor, Dr. Kenya teaches classes at the UHealth wellness center and created the Yoga for Better Sex curriculum. Outside of UMMSM, she wrote the best-selling book, Sex in South Beach and hosts of the Sex in South Beach podcast. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Honors & Awards
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Publications
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Professional Activities
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