Research Summary
My cancer-related research centers around Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and its etiologic agent, Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), with work both in the US and in Africa.
My qualifications for research include both theoretical background and practical experience. I am Director of the UCSF Training in Clinical Research (TICR) Program, which provides graduate-level didactic training in clinical, epidemiologic, and translational research methods to graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty members at UCSF. The TICR Program, which is supported by the UCSF NIH-sponsored Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), includes 33 different courses spanning “laboratory to human subjects” translational research, traditional clinical and epidemiologic research, and “evidence to practice” implementation science research. In direct teaching, I am the course director of “Epidemiologic Methods,” the program’s foundational course in research methods, and the “Master’s Program Seminar Series.” On a practical level, I have extensive experience in both observational and experimental research in both the US and Africa. In the US, I am Co-Director of the Population and Clinical Sciences Core of the UCSF NIH-sponsored Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), which manages the 1800-subject UCSF SCOPE cohort, a vehicle that has supported collaborative research leading to over 200 publications since 2000. In Africa, I am the Principal Investigator (PI) for U54 CA190153 (a project which focuses on the early detection and prevention of KS in Uganda); PI for the UCSF component of the East Africa International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) Consortium (U01 AI069911), in which I direct the working group on cancer; PI for the recently completed R01 CA119903 (a randomized trial for the therapy of KS in Africa); PI for the recently completed D43 CA153717 (a training grant related to KS in Uganda); and Director of the Data Coordinating Center for the 750-subject Mbarara-based Uganda AIDS Rural Treatment Outcomes (UARTO) Cohort. UARTO, which has spun off over 50 publications from collaborative projects since 2006, is a microscopic complement of IeDEA. In all of this work, I have had broad experience with study design, instrument development, study recruitment/ retention, data collection, quality enhancement, data reporting, biostatistical analysis, manuscript preparation, and financial management.
Research Funding
July 13, 2020 - June 30, 2025 - United States-East Africa HIV-Associated Malignancy Research Center (USEAHAMRC) for Career Development and the Prevention, Early Detection and Efficient Linkage to Care for Virus-related Cancers , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U54CA254571
August 10, 2019 - April 30, 2024 - Training in Clinical and Epidemiological Research for Liberia (TRACER) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U2RTW011281
September 30, 1988 - August 31, 2022 - UCSF-Gladstone Center for AIDS Research , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30AI027763
August 17, 2016 - July 31, 2022 - Early Stage Diagnosis of Kaposi's Sarcoma in Limited Resource Settings using KS-Detect , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: UH3CA202723
Education
Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, Maryland, BA, 1979-83, Biology
University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, MD, 1983-88, Medicine
UC, San Francisco, 1988-89, Medicine - Internship
UC, San Francisco, 1989-91, Medicine - Residency
UC, San Francisco, 1991-92, Medicine - Chief Residency
UC, Berkeley, MPH, 1992-93, Epidemiology
UC, San Francisco, 1993-97, Infectious Diseases - Fellowship
UC, San Francisco, 1993-97, AIDS Prevention - Fellowship