Marginalized populations experience profound disparities in their health, but the exact pathways which produce those disparities are difficult to delineate, as stigma produces multiple intersecting individual, relational, and environmental processes, all of which may combine to effect the health of a population. Therefore, in order to accurately model, understand, and alter these interconnected processes, my work has increasingly taken a systems perspective – or one in which the entire system is considered in order to understand the production of health disparities for a particular population. Through creative data use and the development of new tools – I have combined network and quantitative methodologies to understand the complex social and contextual mechanisms that drive the health disparities of marginalized populations – particularly sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth. A NIH Career Development Award (K08 DA037825) supported my work in the area of racial disparities in HIV among young men who have sex with men (YMSM), as well as my development as a scholar who bridges the gap between applied health research and network and contextual methods.