Amanita Calderon-Fuentes

Transgender Europe (TGEU)

Amanita Calderon-Cifuentes is a Colombian scientist and trans-activist, renowned for her contributions to Trans Rights Advocacy. With over a decade of research in Mycology, Marine Microbiology, and Cellular Stress Response, she has developed a profound understanding of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), focusing on infectious diseases such as HIV, TB, and Hepatitis B/C. Her expertise and personal experience with HIV led to her collaboration with Gilead Science, enhancing campaigns and workshops with her insights as a trans individual living with the virus. As the former Chairwoman of TransAktion, a grassroots organization in Denmark, and the current HIV Research and Advocacy Officer at Transgender Europe (TGEU), Calderon-Cifuentes influences policy and supports at-risk trans communities across Europe. Her work extends to serving as an expert for key global and European health and policy institutions (WHO, UNAIDS, ECDC, EU parliament and commission), provide capacity building activities for healthcare authorities and trans communities, and perform with community-based research on matters of SRHR. The intersections between her gender identity, her race, her migration status and her HIV status, have added intrinsical wisdom obtained through lived experiences to the vast academic knowledge that she has, and her role as a notorious member of the ballroom community (LGBTIQ+ space) where she is considered an elder, has made of Amanita a ferocious human rights advocate, trans activist, researcher and diva.