Anne E. Fehrenbacher, PhD, MPH

Anne E. Fehrenbacher, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Population and Public Health Sciences in the Division of Disease Prevention, Policy and Global Health in the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Dr. Fehrenbacher is a social epidemiologist specializing in biobehavioral HIV prevention with sex workers and sexual and gender minority populations. Dr. Fehrenbacher is currently preparing to launch a five-year K01 study funded by the NIH Fogarty International Center on PrEP implementation science with hard-to-reach populations in India evaluating policy, structural, and organizational barriers to widespread rollout and scale-up of PrEP. Dr. Fehrenbacher is the PI for two studies on PrEP acceptability and adherence barriers among sex workers in India and Co-PI for a study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of sex workers in collaboration with the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee in West Bengal. Dr. Fehrenbacher serves as a Scientific Advisor for the Sex Work Lived Experience Affirming Research Network (SW LEARN) funded by the California HIV/AIDS Research Program (CHRP): Community-Centered Research Collaboratives to Address Local HIV-Related Syndemics Across California. Dr. Fehrenbacher is the recipient of the 2022 Mark A. Etzel Scholarship Award for Implementation Science Research from the UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services for her work to develop scalable, sustainable, and effective PrEP implementation strategies to reduce disparities in HIV incidence globally. Previously, Dr. Fehrenbacher was a Research Scientist and Postdoctoral Fellow in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and completed a Fogarty GloCal Fellowship sponsored by the UC Global Health Institute with the Public Health Research Institute of India and Ashodaya Samithi in Karnataka. Dr. Fehrenbacher earned her PhD and MPH in Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and her BA in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Tsui, J., Shin, M., Sloan, K., Mackie, T. I., Garcia, S., Fehrenbacher, A. E., Crabtree, B. F., & Palinkas, L. A. (2024). Use of concept mapping to inform a participatory engagement approach for implementation of evidence-based HPV vaccination strategies in safety-net clinics. Implementation science communications, 5(1), 71.


2. Brooks, R. A., Nieto, O., Santillan, M., Jr, Landrian, A., Fehrenbacher, A. E., & Cabral, A. (2022). Beyond HIV prevention: Additional individual and community-level benefits of PrEP among Latino gay and bisexual men. PloS one, 17(6), e0269688.


3. Brody, C., Chhoun, P., Tuot, S., Fehrenbacher, A. E., Moran, A., Swendeman, D., & Yi, S. (2022). A Mobile Intervention to Link Young Female Entertainment Workers in Cambodia to Health and Gender-Based Violence Services: Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of medical Internet research, 24(1), e27696.

Last updated: 1/21/2025

Michael Li, PhD, MPH

Michael Li, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the UCLA Department of Family Medicine. They serve as a Project Director on multiple studies under Dr. Shoptaw while developing their own research on the role of stress biology in the links between social adversity, substance use, and HIV in sexual minorities of color. Dr. Li received a Bachelor degree in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine, a Master of Public Health from Cal State Fullerton, and a PhD in Preventive Medicine from the University of Southern California. They also served as a postdoctoral fellow at CBAM prior to being promoted to a faculty position.

Contact: mjli@mednet.ucla.edu

Featured Publications:

1. Reback, C. J., Landovitz, R. J., Benkeser, D., Jalali, A., Shoptaw, S., Li, M. J., Mata, R. P., Ryan, D., Jeng, P. J., & Murphy, S. M. (2024). Protocol for a randomized controlled trial with a stepped care approach, utilizing PrEP navigation with and without contingency management, for transgender women and sexual minority men with a substance use disorder: Assistance Services Knowledge-PrEP (A.S.K.-PrEP). Addiction science & clinical practice, 19(1), 79.


2. Li, M. J., Chau, B., Belin, T., Carmody, T., Jha, M. K., Marino, E. N., Trivedi, M., & Shoptaw, S. J. (2024). Extended observation of reduced methamphetamine use with combined naltrexone plus bupropion in the ADAPT-2 trial. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 119(10), 1840–1845.


3. Li, M. J., Hassan, A., Javanbakht, M., Gorbach, P. M., & Shoptaw, S. J. (2024). Decision-making task performance and patterns of methamphetamine use in people assigned male at birth who have sex with men. Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 32(3), 350–357.

Last updated: 1/16/2025

Allison J. Ober, PhD

Allison J. Ober, PhD, is a health policy and behavioral science researcher at the RAND Corporation. She has expertise in implementation science and intervention research, and has over fifteen years of experience conducting HIV prevention and substance use disorder research with underserved populations. Ober recently served as principal investigator of a study examining adaptive strategies for avoiding HIV used by young black men who have sex with men and as co-investigator of a randomized controlled trial that tested the use of a collaborative care model for implementing substance use disorder treatment in a community health center. Ober’s current research interests include increasing access to substance use disorder treatment and preventing HIV. Ober received her doctorate from the UCLA Department of Social Welfare, School of Public Affairs.

Contact: allison_ober@rand.org

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Cantor, J., Griffin, B. A., Levitan, B., Mendon-Plasek, S. J., Stein, B. D., Hunter, S. B., & Ober, A. J. (2024). Availability of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Community Mental Health Facilities. JAMA network open, 7(6), e2417545.


2. Ogunbajo, A., Todd, I., Zajdman, D., Anderson, A., Wali, S., Diamant, A., Ladapo, J. A., & Ober, A. J. (2024). Statin use for cardiovascular disease prevention: perceptions among people living with HIV in the United States. BMC primary care, 25(1), 116.


3. Osilla, K. C., Manuel, J. K., Becker, K., Nameth, K., Burgette, L., Ober, A. J., DeYoreo, M., Lodge, B. S., Hurley, B., & Watkins, K. E. (2024). It takes a village: A pilot study of a group telehealth intervention for support persons affected by opioid use disorder. Journal of substance use and addiction treatment, 161, 209290.

Last updated: 1/16/2025

Erik Storholm, PhD

Dr. Erik D. Storholm is a tenured associate professor in the Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science in the School of Public Health at San Diego State University. Dr. Storholm is a licensed clinical psychologist with an established behavioral research program focused on reducing health inequities through behavioral and biomedical interventions that prevent HIV/STI transmission by improving mental health and reducing substance use and violence among sexual and gender minority populations. Dr. Storholm is currently leading several NIH-funded projects focused on biobehavioral HIV prevention uptake and adherence among sexual and gender minorities. Prior to joining SDSU, Dr. Storholm was Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica where he maintains an adjunct appointment. Storholm received his Ph.D. from New York University and completed his clinical training in the Departments of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and the Mount Sinai Hospital System in New York City. He then completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the NIDA-funded Substance Abuse Treatment Services and Research Program in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.

Contact: storholm@rand.org

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Wagner, G. J., Siconolfi, D., Nacht, C. L., & Storholm, E. D. (2024). Disclosure and Help Seeking Related to Intimate Partner Violence Victimization, Perpetration, and Bidirectional Abuse in a National Sample of Sexual Minority Men. Journal of interpersonal violence, 8862605241298301. Advance online publication.


2. Kielhold, K., Storholm, E. D., Reynolds, H. E., Vincent, W., Siconolfi, D. E., Kegeles, S. M., Pollack, L., & Campbell, C. K. (2024). “I Don’t Feel Judged, I Don’t Feel Less of a Person” – Engaged and Supportive Providers in the HIV Care Experiences of Black Sexual Minority Men Living with HIV. Patient preference and adherence, 18, 1641–1650.


3. Nacht, C. L., Reynolds, H. E., Jessup, O., Amato, M., & Storholm, E. D. (2024). The Association between Social Support and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis use among Sexual Minority Men in the United States: A Scoping Literature Review. AIDS and behavior, 28(11), 3559–3573.

Last updated: 1/17/2025

Timothy Hall, MD, PhD

Timothy Hall, MD, PhD, is a Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, Dept. of Family Medicine and Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He has trained and studied at Harvard, UCSD, University of Chicago/NORC, Karlova Univerzita (Prague), the New Center for Psychoanalysis (Los Angeles), and UCLA.  He is co-chair of the Human Sexuality & Anthropology Interest Group (HSAIG) of the American Anthropological Association. He has conducted long-term ethnographic research in Prague, Czech Republic, with four years of fieldwork since 1999.  This project looks at processes of gay and bisexual men’s sexual identity formation and changes in the social and sexual networks of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the post-socialist era and since EU accession, with attention to HIV risk factors. He has also conducted fieldwork among non-gay-identified MSM in Los Angeles. His research interests include theories of sexual identity and the role of sexual identities and various forms of sexual-identity-based sociality in mediating risk for HIV, depression, and addictive disorders. He has worked as study physician on clinical trials of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (HTPN 073), the mStudy cohort study of HIV risk factors, and several trials of medications for methamphetamine use disorder (bupropion, varenicline, ibudilast, and bupropion/naltrexone). Dr. Hall is a psychiatrist with clinical interests in mood disorders, HIV psychiatry, personality disorders, and addiction.

Contact: tmhall@mednet.ucla.edu

Pamina M. Gorbach, MHS, DrPH

Pamina M. Gorbach, MHS, DrPH, research focuses on bio-behavioral dynamics of sexual health, with a focus on HIV transmission, acquisition and progression, especially around substance abuse. She is a Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health and in the Division of Infectious Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine and is co-director of the UCLA Center for AIDS Research Program on Biobehavioral Epidemiology and Substance Use.  In Los Angeles, Dr. Gorbach is the Co-PI with Steven Shoptaw of a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded research platform based on a cohort of young MSM of color with a large biorepository entitled “The mSTUDY” and CDC funded surveillance of anal HPV among YMSM.  Most recently Dr. Gorbach with Suzanne Siminski from Frontier Science as co-principle investigator was awarded the Collaborating Consortium of Cohorts NIDA Producing Opportunities (C3PNO) to stimulate science utilizing data and specimens across ten NIDA funded North American of HIV infected and at risk longitudinal cohorts by creating a virtual repository and mechanisms to access common data elements.  Dr. Gorbach has also been involved in research and training in Cambodia since 1997 where she heads a Fogarty supported training program in HIV/AIDS.  She is also co-PI with Dr. Judy Currier of the NIMH supported Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program in Global HIV Prevention Research at UCLA. Her global health experience includes Cambodia, Vietnam, Peru, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mali, Malawi, South Africa, and Ghana.

Contact: pgorbach@ucla.edu

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Rosen, A. D., Javanbakht, M., Shoptaw, S. J., Seamans, M. J., & Gorbach, P. M. (2024). Associations of Sleep Deficiency With Sexual Risk Behaviors and HIV Treatment Outcomes Among Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With or at High Risk of Acquiring HIV. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999), 96(4), 326–333.


2. Lua, I., Magno, L., Silva, A., Pinto, P., Bastos, J. L., Jesus, G., Coelho, R., Ichihara, M., Barreto, M., Santos, C. T., Moucheraud, C., Gorbach, P., Macinko, J., Souza, L., Dourado, I., & Rasella, D. (2024). The intersecting effects of race, wealth, and education on AIDS incidence, mortality, and case-fatality rate: a Brazilian cohort study of 28.3 million individuals. Research square, rs.3.rs-4314004.


3. Shah, A., Meites, E., Lin, J., Hughes, J. P., Gorbach, P. M., Mustanski, B., Crosby, R. A., Unger, E. R., Querec, T., Golden, M., Markowitz, L. E., & Winer, R. L. (2024). Determinants of Type-Specific Human Papillomavirus Concordance Across Anatomic Sites in Young Men Who Have Sex With Men and Transgender Women, 3 U.S. Cities, 2016-2018. Sexually transmitted diseases, 51(4), 260–269.

Last updated: 1/15/2025

Jesse Clark, MD, MSc

Jesse Clark, MD, MSc, is Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease and Department of Family Medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His research addresses the integration of new prevention technologies within the social and sexual networks of Latin American and Latino MSM. He studied History and American Civilization at Brown University and Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, completed Internal Medicine Residency at Montefiore Medical Center, and Infectious Diseases Fellowship at UCLA. He is Director of the UCLA South American Program in HIV Prevention Research (SAPHIR) training program in Lima, Peru and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the UCLA T32 Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Global HIV Prevention and Treatment. Dr. Clark is also Medical Director for the UCLA Vine Street Clinic where he has led the site’s involvement in trials of long-acting injectable PrEP medications, mRNA vaccines to prevent COVID-19 and HIV-1, and studies of new therapeutics for substance use disorders. Current research includes: Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT) to promote partner notification following STI diagnosis; Integrated approaches to harm reduction among men engaged in Chemsex; and STI screening as HIV prevention among MSM in Peru.

Contact: jlclark@mednet.ucla.edu

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Kelley, C. F., Acevedo-Quiñones, M., Agwu, A. L., Avihingsanon, A., Benson, P., Blumenthal, J., Brinson, C., Brites, C., Cahn, P., Cantos, V. D., Clark, J., Clement, M., Creticos, C., Crofoot, G., Diaz, R. S., Doblecki-Lewis, S., Gallardo-Cartagena, J. A., Gaur, A., Grinsztejn, B., Hassler, S., … PURPOSE 2 Study Team (2024). Twice-Yearly Lenacapavir for HIV Prevention in Men and Gender-Diverse Persons. The New England journal of medicine, 10.1056/NEJMoa2411858. Advance online publication.


2. Harris, C. L., Blair, C. S., Segura, E. R., Gutiérrez, J., Lake, J. E., Cabello, R., & Clark, J. L. (2024). Sexual network characteristics, condomless anal intercourse, and the HIV care cascade among MSM living with controlled versus uncontrolled HIV infection in Lima, Peru: a population-based cross-sectional analysis. Lancet regional health. Americas, 32, 100722.


3. Clark, J. L., Oldenburg, C. E., Passaro, R. C., Segura, E. R., Godwin, W., Fulcher, J. A., & Cabello, R. (2024). Changes in Inflammatory Cytokine Levels in Rectal Mucosa Associated With Neisseria gonorrheae and/or Chlamydia trachomatis Infection and Treatment Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Lima, Peru. The Journal of infectious diseases, 229(3), 845–854.

Last updated: 2/6/2025

Kara Chew, MD, MS

Kara Chew, MD, MS joined the CARE Center in 2010 as part of her Infectious Diseases Fellowship at UCLA, following internal medicine residency and a junior clinical faculty position in the Division of General Internal Medicine at UCSF. She is a research investigator at CARE, with a focus on studies to improve the treatment and outcomes of those with Hepatitis C and HIV/Hepatitis C co-infection. She is also an HIV and Hepatitis C clinician. Dr. Chew enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and otherwise enjoying the great weather in Los Angeles.

Contact: kchew@mednet.ucla.edu

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Lin, H., Chen, Y., Abror-Lacks, G., Price, M., Morris, A., Sun, J., Palella, F., Chew, K. W., Brown, T. T., Rinaldo, C. R., & Peddada, S. D. (2024). Sexual behavior is linked to changes in gut microbiome and systemic inflammation that lead to HIV-1 infection in men who have sex with men. Communications biology, 7(1), 1145.


2. Pisa, P., Kinge, C. W., Chasela, C., Mothibi, E., Thaung, Y. M., Thwin, H. T., Aung, N. M., Chew, K. W., Gandhi, M. M., Clint, C., Minior, T., Lwin, A. A., Freiman, M. J., Kyi, K. P., Sein, Y. Y., Marange, F., van der Horst, C., Mohamed, S., Barralon, M., & Sanne, I. (2024). Evaluation of GeneXpert and advanced biological laboratories UltraGene HCV diagnostic detection and performance against Roche real time PCR in Myanmar. Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology, 171, 105653.

3. Lu, M. T., Ribaudo, H., Foldyna, B., Zanni, M. V., Mayrhofer, T., Karady, J., Taron, J., Fitch, K. V., McCallum, S., Burdo, T. H., Paradis, K., Hedgire, S. S., Meyersohn, N. M., DeFilippi, C., Malvestutto, C. D., Sturniolo, A., Diggs, M., Siminski, S., Bloomfield, G. S., Alston-Smith, B., … REPRIEVE Trial Writing Group (2024). Effects of Pitavastatin on Coronary Artery Disease and Inflammatory Biomarkers in HIV: Mechanistic Substudy of the REPRIEVE Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA cardiology, 9(4), 323–334.

Last updated: 1/15/ 2025

Ronald Brooks, PhD

Ronald A. Brooks, PhD, has been involved for over 20 years in social behavioral HIV-related research and in providing training and technical assistance to community-based organizations (CBO) involved in HIV prevention and treatment. Dr. Brooks received his training in HIV-related research as part of a two-year postdoctoral training fellowship at UCLA’s School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology under the mentorship of Dr. Roger Detels. The focus of his research is on the development, implementation and evaluation of HIV prevention and treatment interventions for Latino and African-American men who have sex with men.  His current research addresses the challenges with implementing the latest biomedical prevention strategy, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), among racial/ethnic minority gay and bisexual men. With funding from National Institute of Mental Health, he is examining internalized, perceived and enacted PrEP stigma experienced by Black and Latino MSM PrEP users in Los Angeles.  Another focus of his research is on the use of social media and technology in the identification, engagement and retention of HIV-positive racial/ethnic minority MSM in HIV medical care.  Dr. Brooks is the Co-PI of a study examining the use of social media with Latino MSM for HIV testing and linkage to medical care. Dr. Brooks is also the PI of the UCLA Social Media Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration.  The Center is conducting a multi-site evaluation of 10 demonstration sites across the country that are using social media and technology to engage and retain HIV-positive youth and young adults in medical care.

Contact: rabrooks@mednet.ucla.edu

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Lightner, J. S., Chesnut, S., Cabral, H. J., Myers, J. J., Brooks, R. A., Byrne, T., & Rajabiun, S. (2024). Advancing Patient Navigation for HIV: Evaluating Models of Care for Housing and Employment. AIDS and behavior, 28(11), 3910–3918.

2. Brooks, R. A., Nieto, O., Rosenberg-Carlson, E., Morales, K., Üsküp, D. K., Santillan, M., & Inzunza, Z. (2024). Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing PrEP and Other Sexual Health Services Among Immigrant Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men in Los Angeles County. Archives of sexual behavior, 53(9), 3673–3685.

3. Üsküp, D. K., Nieto, O., Rosenberg-Carlson, E., & Brooks, R. A. (2024). Acceptability and appropriateness of information sessions to increase knowledge and awareness of PrEP and TelePrEP among Latina Women. AIDS care, 36(8), 1162–1171.

Last updated: 1/15/2025

Laura Bogart, PhD

Laura Bogart, PhD, is a Senior Behavioral Scientist at RAND and a Professor of Psychiatry at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. A social psychologist specializing in community-based participatory research to understand and address HIV disparities, her primary interests are in the areas of intersectional stigma and medical mistrust. Much of her research is in the U.S. (with racial, ethnic, and sexual minority populations), and she also conducts research in Botswana, South Africa, and Uganda. She is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and the Society of Behavioral Medicine. She was awarded the American Psychological Association’s Division 44 (LGBT Psychology) Award for Distinguished Contribution to Ethnic Minority Issues. Bogart received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Social Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Contact: laura_bogart@rand.org

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS:

1. Bogart, L. M., Musoke, W., Mukama, C. S., Allupo, S., Klein, D. J., Sejjemba, A., Mwima, S., Kadama, H., Mulebeke, R., Pandey, R., Wagner, Z., Mukasa, B., & Wanyenze, R. K. (2024). Enhanced Oral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Implementation for Ugandan Fisherfolk: Pilot Intervention Outcomes. AIDS and behavior28(10), 3512–3524.

2. Bogart, L. M., Phaladze, N., Kgotlaetsile, K., Klein, D. J., Goggin, K., & Mosepele, M. (2024). Pilot Test of Mopati, a Multi-Level Adherence Intervention for People Living with HIV and Their Treatment Partners in BotswanaInternational journal of behavioral medicine31(5), 787–798.


3. Bogart, L. M., Mutchler, M. G., Goggin, K., Ghosh-Dastidar, M., Klein, D. J., Saya, U., Linnemayr, S., Lawrence, S. J., Tyagi, K., Thomas, D., Gizaw, M., Bailey, J., & Wagner, G. J. (2023). Randomized Controlled Trial of Rise, A Community-Based Culturally Congruent Counseling Intervention to Support Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Black/African American Adults Living with HIVAIDS and behavior27(5), 1573–1586.

Last updated: 12/10/2024