Research Summary

I am a Professor in Residence in the HIV, ID, and Global Medicine Division in the Department of Medicine.

Substance use plays important biological and behavioral roles in health outcomes, and my work consists of epidemiology at the intersection of substance use and infectious diseases. My research team is currently conducting several NIH-funded studies to examine the use of TB prophylaxis in HIV/TB co-infected alcohol users, interventions to reduce drinking and increase antiretroviral therapy adherence, and the Center for Alcohol/HIV Innovations and Biomarker Research (CALIBER). We are using novel biomarkers of alcohol consumption and INH pill-taking to gain objective measurements where self-report is problematic. I lead grant-writing courses in the UCSF CTSI KL2 Scholars Program, and co-direct the UCSF Department of Medicine Pre-Proposal Application Review (PREPARE) program.

Research Funding

  • July 20, 2026 - March 31, 2031 - Redefining Optimal Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) Cutoffs for Alcohol Screening (ROCS) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AA033136
  • September 25, 2025 - August 31, 2030 - Center for Alcohol/HIV Innovations and Biomarker Research (CALIBER) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P60AA032189
  • June 1, 2024 - May 31, 2027 - The Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) Results Communication (PERC) Study , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R34AA031652
  • September 10, 2021 - August 31, 2026 - The International URBAN Alcohol Research Collaboration on HIV/AIDS (ARCH) Center , Co-Investigator; Uganda project PI . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P01AA029541
  • September 15, 2013 - April 30, 2025 - Training in Research Program on Alcohol Use by Persons with our at Risk for HIV , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K24AA022586
  • May 1, 2022 - February 28, 2025 - Biomarkers for Alcohol/HIV Research (BAHR) Study , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: NIH R01AA029962
  • May 1, 2022 - February 28, 2025 - Biomarkers for Alcohol/HIV Research (BAHR) Study , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AA029962
  • September 15, 2017 - August 31, 2022 - Interventions to reduce alcohol use and increase adherence to TB preventive therapy among HIV/TB co-infected drinkers (DIPT 1/2) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01AA026223
  • September 20, 2011 - August 31, 2022 - URBAN ARCH (3/5) Uganda Cohort TB preventive therapy for HIV-infected alcohol users in Uganda: an evaluation of safety tolerability and adherence , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01AA020776
  • April 1, 2017 - March 31, 2021 - Mobile technology to extend clinic-based counseling for HIV+s in Uganda , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AA024990
  • July 15, 2010 - March 31, 2015 - Changes in Alcohol Consumption in HIV Positives in Uganda , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AA018631
  • June 20, 2007 - May 31, 2012 - Dynamic Modeling of the HCV Epidemic in IDU , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K01DA023365
  • September 30, 2006 - August 31, 2009 - Measurement of Alcohol Use Among HIV-Positives in Uganda , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21AA015897

Education

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, B.S., 5/1987, Statistics and Biometry
University of California, Berkeley, CA, M.A., 5/1989, Biostatistics
University of California, Berkeley, CA, Doctoral Student, 1989-1990, Biostatistics
University of California, Berkeley, CA, Ph.D., 5/2001, Epidemiology

Honors & Awards

  • 2009-2010
    Hellman Family Award for Early Career Faculty, UCSF
  • 2013-present
    NIH Center for Scientific Review: Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS (BSPH) Study Section ad hoc reviewer and Special Emphasis Panel reviewer (4 times) and Chair (2 times), Population and Public Health Approaches to HIV/ADS (PPAH) ad hoc reviewer (1 time)
  • 2015
    mHealth Summer Training Institute (UCLA) selected participant

Selected Publications

  1. Litunya J, Beesiga B, Nakato JZ, Mwango J, Marson K, Mugoma EW, Temple J, Agaba P, Kabami J, Kakande E, Hahn JA, Camlin CS, Shade SB, Petersen ML, Havlir DV, Kamya MR, Balzer LB, Ayieko J, Chamie G. Influence of alcohol-serving venue characteristics on yield of HIV status-neutral screening in rural East Africa. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2026; 6(7):e0005053. View on PubMed
  2. Favina A, Fatch R, Rao SR, Chamie G, Muyindike W, Adong J, Emenyonu NI, Tumwegamire A, Ngabirano C, Kekibiina A, Kara M, Beesiga B, Carrico AW, Hahn JA. Association Between Alcohol Use, CD4 Count, and Depressive Symptoms Among People with HIV with Viral Load Suppressed in Southwestern Uganda. AIDS Behav. 2026 Jul 21. View on PubMed
  3. Truong V, Kekibiina A, Muyindike WR, Gnatienko N, Tsui JI, Emenyonu NI, Cheng DM, Hahn JA, Allison O, Bullard MJ, Lunze K, Samet JH. Gabapentin to achieve HIV viral load suppression in people with risky drinking in Mbarara, Uganda: study protocol for a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial (GRAIL). Trials. 2026 Jun 03; 27(1). View on PubMed
  4. Murnane PM, Xia F, Afshar M, Brown JL, Chamie G, Cook RL, Couture MC, DiClemente RJ, Fatch R, Ferguson T, Francis JM, Haberer JE, Jacobson KR, Justice AC, Kapiga S, Kim TW, Krupitsky E, Marcus GM, Molina PE, Muyindike WR, Myers B, Page K, Phillips SA, Piano MR, Richards VL, So-Armah K, Stewart S, Sulkowski MS, Tien PC, Woolf-King S, Hahn JA. Exploring Phosphatidylethanol Cutoffs for Self-Reported Unhealthy Alcohol Use: An International Multi-Site Analysis. Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2026 Jun; 50(6):e70361. View on PubMed
  5. Fisk-Hoffman RJ, Kekibiina A, Muyindike WR, Cheng H, Agumenaitwe P, Truong V, Allison O, Gnatienko N, Tsui JI, Hahn JA, Emenyonu N, Forman L, Shan W, Karsten L, Samet JH. High Prevalence of Unhealthy Alcohol Use Among Persons with HIV, Viral Non-suppression and Any Alcohol Use in Mbarara, Uganda: A Brief Report. AIDS Behav. 2026 May 29. View on PubMed
  6. Gutin SA, Atukunda E, Khorassani FS, Fatch R, So-Armah K, Tumwegamire A, Emenyonu NI, da Silva CE, Ngabirano C, Lunze K, Adong J, Muyindike W, Hahn JA. Intersectional Stigma and Health of People Living with HIV on ART Who Use Alcohol in Southwestern Uganda. AIDS Behav. 2026 Apr 03. View on PubMed
  7. Kane JC, Kanguya T, Paniagua-Avila A, Foloko M, Mwamba C, Hahn JA, Latkin C, Martins SS, Chander G, Pawar R, Greene MC, Mwamba K, Sharma A. Alcohol and other drug use among HIV-affected adolescents and young adults in Zambia: a qualitative study of multilevel drivers and preferences for prevention and treatment approaches. SSM Ment Health. 2026 Jun; 9. View on PubMed
  8. Mwangwa F, Puryear S, Nyabuti M, Nakato H, Orori GO, Black D, Peng J, Bukusi E, Balzer LB, Camlin CS, Ayieko J, Ruel T, Kamya MR, Havlir DV, Chamie G, Hahn JA. Effect of Biomarker Confirmed Unhealthy Alcohol Use on Viral Suppression Among Adolescents and Young Adults With HIV in East Africa. J Int Assoc Provid AIDS Care. 2026 Jan-Dec; 25:23259582261432032. View on PubMed
  9. Beesiga B, Litunya J, Nakato JZ, Agola JA, Marson K, Mugoma WE, Agaba P, Temple J, Camlin CS, Shade SB, Woolf-King SE, Hahn JA, Kakande E, Kabami J, Petersen ML, Havlir DV, Balzer LB, Ayieko J, Kamya MR, Chamie G, OPAL-East Africa trial team. Association between Levels of Alcohol Use, Perceived HIV Risk, and Untreated HIV Among Persons at Alcohol-Serving Venues in Kenya and Uganda. AIDS Behav. 2026 Feb 26. View on PubMed
  10. Castle AC, Shenoi SV, Herbst K, Wong EB, Ndung'u T, Hanekom W, Hahn JA, Siedner MJ, Vukuzazi Study Team. Alcohol Consumption and Health Outcomes Among Men in a Rural HIV-Endemic Cohort in South Africa. Wellcome Open Res. 2025; 10:469. View on PubMed
  11. Woolf-King SE, Dalton MR, Firkey M, Sheinfil A, Bucci V, Estrada B, Ramos J, Hahn JA, Bricker J, Gump B, Bendinskas KG, Maisto SA. A Randomized Feasibility/Acceptability Trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for People with HIV Who Drink at Unhealthy Levels. AIDS Behav. 2026 Jun; 30(6):1761-1776. View on PubMed
  12. Espinosa da Silva C, Scheffler A, Fatch R, Muyindike W, Emenyonu NI, Adong J, Chamie G, Ngabirano C, Kekibiina A, Tumwegamire A, Marson K, Beesiga B, Kindoli E, Allen IE, Hahn JA, Drinkers’ Intervention to Prevent Tuberculosis (DIPT) Study and the Alcohol Drinkers’ Exposure to Pr. Lab tests can be used to predict phosphatidylethanol-measured high-risk alcohol use among people with HIV: a proof-of-concept using machine learning. Alcohol Alcohol. 2025 Nov 16; 61(1). View on PubMed
  13. Nwabuzor Ogbonnaya I, Nakigudde J, Naigino R, Stockman JK, Chung Y, Nantongo M, Marsiglia FF, Hahn JA, Wechsberg WM, Mwebembezi A, Wanyenze RK, Kiene SM. Protocol for the Kisoboka Mukwano pilot randomized controlled trial in Uganda: A couples-based intervention to reduce intimate partner violence and alcohol use among adolescent girls and young women living with HIV and their male partners. Contemp Clin Trials. 2025 Dec; 159:108136. View on PubMed
  14. Adong J, Fatch R, Sanyu N, Katusiime A, Emenyonu NI, Muyindike WR, Hahn JA. A mobile health-based alcohol reduction intervention and its usability among persons with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Uganda. Mhealth. 2025; 11:62. View on PubMed
  15. Woolf-King SE, Presutti E, McKenna O, Hahn JA, Abar B, Dahne J, Gump BB, Bendinskas KG, Maisto SA. Acceptance and commitment therapy for people with HIV who drink at unhealthy levels: Protocol for the ACCEPT randomized controlled trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2025 Dec; 159:108130. View on PubMed
  16. Truong V, Kekibiina A, Muyindike W, Gnatienko N, Tsui JI, Emenyonu NI, Cheng DM, Hahn J, Allison O, Bullard MJ, Lunze K, Samet JH. Gabapentin to achieve HIV viral load suppression in people with risky drinking in Mbarara, Uganda: study protocol for a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial (GRAIL). Res Sq. 2025 Oct 15. View on PubMed
  17. Tierney HR, Ma Y, Xia F, Chandran A, Kempf MC, Collins LF, DeHovitz J, DiClemente RJ, Floris-Moore M, French AL, Jones DL, Sharma A, Spence AB, Hahn JA, Price JC, Tien PC. Trends in Alcohol Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Women Living With and Without HIV in the United States (2017-2022). AIDS Behav. 2026 Feb; 30(2):502-515. View on PubMed
  18. Hahn JA, Kane JC, Fatch R, Espinosa da Silva C, Emenyonu NI, Scheffler A, Chirayil P, So-Armah K, Kahler CW, Conroy AA, Edelman EJ, Woolf-King S, Parry CD, Kiene SM, Chamie G, Muyindike WR, Adong J, Go VF, Cook RL, Morojele NK, Fiellin DA, Santos GM, Tahir P, Samet J, Krupitsky E, Allen IE. Alcohol interventions for persons with HIV: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials using phosphatidylethanol and self-report. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2025 Sep 12; 276:112879. View on PubMed
  19. Kiene SM, Miller AP, Ediau M, Tuhebwe D, Sileo KM, Naigino R, Hahn JA, Reed E, Anecho A, Mukasa B, Lin CD, Wanyenze RK, Tumwesigye NM. A pilot randomized controlled trial of Kisoboka, a behavioral economic and motivational interviewing intervention to reduce high-risk alcohol use and improve antiretroviral therapy adherence for men in Uganda. Addiction. 2026 01; 121(1):94-107. View on PubMed
  20. Kane JC, Chirayil P, Pawar R, Inoue S, Hofer T, McDonell M, Latkin C, Chander G, Martins SS, Greene MC, Vinikoor M, Sharma A, Hahn JA. Measuring alcohol consumption with biomarkers in intervention studies: A scoping review. Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2025 Sep; 49(9):1843-1854. View on PubMed

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