Dallas Swendeman, PhD, MPH
Dallas Swendeman, PhD, MPH, is an applied multi-disciplinary behavioral scientist whose research currently focuses on leveraging mobile phones’ nearly ubiquitous integration into our daily routines for innovative intervention and research methods, specifically for prevention, self-management, and treatment adherence and retention interventions targeting HIV/AIDS, substance use, sexual risk behaviors, mental health and quality of life. He has a parallel line of research on empowerment and community-led structural interventions with sex workers in India (www.durbar.org), and recently began collaboration with partners in Cambodia. Dr. Swendeman has over 20 years of professional research implementation experience in HIV prevention and self-management interventions, with his earliest experiences focused on youth living with HIV (YLH) and developing and testing behavioral interventions that have been scaled nationally by the CDC in the Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI) program (CLEAR and Together Learning Choices).
Dr. Swendeman Co-Directs the CHIPTS Development Core and the Center of Expertise on Women’s Health, Gender, and Empowerment at the University of California Global Health Institute. He is PI on a NICHD-funded Adolescent HIV Medicine Trials Network (ATN CARES) project testing text-messaging, online peer-support, and coaching interventions with a cohort of 1,500 HIV-negative high-risk youth in Los Angeles and New Orleans. He is also Co-PI for the Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center (ETAC) for the Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Use of Social Media to Improve Engagement, Retention, and Health Outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum Initiative with Dr. Ron Brooks (PI). He was Co-Investigator on a recently completed R01 RCT testing daily automated, peer-educator mediated, and weekly diary interventions by text-messaging for methamphetamine using gay and bisexual men in Los Angeles with Dr. Cathy Reback (PI). Dr. Swendeman also recently completed a R21 that developed and tested an interactive voice response (IVR) intervention with antiretroviral therapy patients in India targeting adherence and self-management. Dr. Swendeman has also led and supported the design and evaluation of over a dozen other studies employing mobile phone, web-based, and social media technologies, both for primary research aims and interventions to support patients, community health workers (CHWs), substance abuse counselors, medical care coordination teams, and youth and parents. Dr. Swendeman’s work also focuses on other alternative delivery modalities for intervention delivery and diffusion, such as market-place based family wellness centers (www.uclacommons.org), and soccer leagues and job training with young township men in South Africa.
Contact: dswendeman@mednet.ucla.edu