Our reasearch team brings over a decade of experience working with with youth living with HIV and how to improve care delivery through technology.
Parya Saberi, PharmD, MAS, MFA, AAHIVP is an Associate Professor at the Division of Prevention Science in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Saberi has received funding from the National Institute of Health through K23, R21, R34, and R01 mechanisms. Additionally from the California HIV Research Program (CHRP) and the CDC. Her research includes reconceptualizing the provision of healthcare using technology-based strategies such as mobile applications, video-conferencing tools, and text messaging to improve medication adherence and engagement in care among people with HIV and people eligible for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). She is involved in research related to a mental health intervention for transgender women in Lebanon and an intervention to reduce HIV-related stigma among nurses in Iran. She is currently an expert consultant at the National Clinicians Consultation Center's HIV Warmline, PEPline, and PrEPline (nccc.ucsf.edu).
Kristin Ming is a Project Coordinator at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies where she has been working for the past 6 years, helping to coordinate studies utilizing technology to improve engagement in HIV care.
Louis Smith, BA is a Research Analyst at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies where he helps to coordinate research using mobile health to improve care engament and overall well being in youth living with HIV. Louis brings a background of cell & molecular biology research and community centered care to this project. He has worked at UCSF in HIV immunology & flow cytometry, and has spent the last 5 years working in harm reduction, HIV treatment, prevention and linkage at UCSF and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Celeste Balaban, ASW, is a Clinical Social Worker at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies in the Department of Medicine at UCSF. She is conducting the video-counseling portion of the study and supporting related clinical tasks. Celeste's experience includes an internship with Citywide Psychiatry in the STOP substance use program, creating a social work program for patients living with sickle cell disease at ZSFG, and providing psychotherapy for individuals and youth dealing with stress and anxiety.
Hiromi “Romi” Ortega Roque ASW, is a Clinical Social Worker at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies in the Department of Medicine at UCSF. She is conducting the video-counseling portion of the study and supporting related clinical tasks. Romi brings a wealth of experience to her role, having collaborated on and developed low-barrier clinic programs for individuals living with HIV or at risk of acquiring HIV at UCSF Ward 86. With experience as a frontline HIV social worker at ZSFGH, Romi has demonstrated a profound commitment to providing sexual health counseling and supportive services, facilitating linkage to HIV care. Using a harm-reductive and trauma-informed framework, Romi is dedicated to addressing health disparities among individuals affected by mental health challenges and substance use.
Dr. Marie Stoner is an investigator within the Women’s Global Health Imperative at RTI international. She is a social and infectious disease epidemiologist with a focus on HIV prevention among women and young people, and on understanding social and structural determinants of sexual health both internationally and in the United States. She has expertise in epidemiologic methods, including causal inference methods, qualitative methods, youth-engaged research, mixed methods, and quantitative methods for analysis of longitudinal data. Additionally, she is a co-Investigator providing expertise on methods and data analysis on eight other ongoing NIH-funded projects related to social determinants of health among adolescents and young adults in Africa and the United States
Caravella McCuistian PhD is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research interests include addressing health disparities among underserved populations including substance-using populations, racial/ethnic minorities, women, and individuals living with HIV. She has conducted research that utilizes community-engaged methodology, including community-based participatory research, to develop behavioral interventions to improve health, including the development of culturally informed HIV prevention interventions for women who use substances as well as women engaged in transactional sex. Dr. McCuistian is also interested in addressing health disparities in novel ways such as integrating health interventions into substance use residential treatment facilities as well as leveraging technology to provide interventions to underserved communities.
Mallory Johnson, PhD is a Professor at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and a licensed clinical health psychologist, whose research has focused on understanding, measuring, and improving the health of patients with chronic diseases such as HIV. Over the past decade, he has developed a thriving program of multidisciplinary collaborative research focused on improving HIV treatment outcomes through patient empowerment. He has collaborated on, developed, and led studies that address the intersection of psychological health and medical care and their entwined impact on health outcomes. His multidisciplinary work brings together expertise in medicine, nursing, psychology, and anthropology.
Dr. Valerie A. Gruber is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF, and faculty in the Public Service and Minorities Track of the UCSF Clinical Psychology Training Program. Dr. Gruber is a licensed psychologist, and National Certification for Addiction Professionals Master Addiction Counselor. Her clinical, supervision, leadership, teaching and research efforts focus on developing clinical interventions for substance use disorders and associated psychiatric and medical conditions that are effective for low-income adults diverse in race, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and disability. Areas of expertise include treatment of substance use and psychiatric disorders in behavioral health and primary care settings, using trauma-informed, culturally informed, anti-racist approaches to reduce health and health care disparities. She has published research on behavioral, digital and structural interventions in methadone maintenance, outpatient and residential treatment, and HIV primary care.
Torsten Neilands, Ph.D. is a Professor at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) in the Department of Medicine at UCSF and directs the Center’s Methods Core. Originally trained as a social psychologist, he spent eight years as a statistical consultant at the University of Texas academic computing center before coming to CAPS in 2001. At CAPS he has participated as statistical co-investigator or consultant on over 50 NIH, CDC, and state projects in the areas of HIV prevention, reproductive health, and tobacco prevention.
