Richard S. Garfein is an Associate Professor in the Division of International Health and Cross-Cultural Medicine in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at UCSD. He was trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist at San Diego State University, School of Public Health where he received his M.P.H. degree, and at Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health where he received his Ph.D. Prior to his appointment at UCSD, Dr. Garfein served for over seven years in the U.S. Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, first as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the Division of Viral Hepatitis, and then as a Senior Staff Epidemiologist in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. Since 1990, he has been conducting research on behavioral transmission of bloodborne viral infections, including HIV, HBV, HCV, and HTLV I/II among high-risk populations both domestic and abroad. His current research involves observational studies and behavioral intervention trials related to HIV and viral hepatitis prevention among injection drug users. Since joining the UCSD faculty in 2005, Dr. Garfein broadened his research activities to include studying the combined epidemics of tuberculosis and HIV in Mexico and developing interventions to prevent HIV transmission among methamphetamine-using men who have sex with men through research awards from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, respectively. Dr. Garfein is also involved in two California Department of Health Services funded evaluation projects that have the potential to impact HIV prevention activities statewide. The first is an evaluation of a restructured protocol for providing HIV counseling and testing in publicly funded clinics in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The other evaluates syringe discard practices after passage of Senate Bill 1159, which allows pharmacists in authorized counties or cities to dispense syringes without a prescription His international research and consulting activities include Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Japan, the Caribbean, and Africa.

Selected Publications:

1. New UCSD Cross-Border Program Aims to Assess and Treat Tuberculosis in Tijuana
   
   
2. Lansky A, Abdul-Quader AS, Cribbin M, Hall T, Finlayson TJ, Garfein RS, Lin LS, Sullivan PS. Developing an HIV Behavioral Surveillance System for Injecting Drug Users: The National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System. Public Health Reports 2007 Suppliment I
   
   
3. Stopka TJ, Garfein RS, Ross A, Truax SR. Increasing Syringe Access and HIV Prevention in California: Findings from a Survey of Local Health Jurisdiction Key Personnel. Journal of Urban Health 2006 Dec 7; [Epub ahead of print]
   
   
4. Santibanez SS, Garfein RS, Swartzendruber A, Purcell DW, Paxton LA, Greenberg AE. Update and overview of practical epidemiologic aspects of HIV/AIDS among injection drug users in the United States. Journal of Urban Health 2006 83(1):86-100.
   
   
5. Garfein RS, Bower WA, Loney CM, Hutin YJF, Xia GL, Jawanda J, Groom AV, Nainan OV, Murphy JS, Bell BP. Factors associated with fulminant liver failure during an outbreak among injection drug users with acute hepatitis B. Hepatology 2004;40;865-873
   
   
6. Garfein RS, Monterroso ER, Tong TC, Vlahov D, Des Jarlais DC, Selwyn P, Kerndt PR, Word C, Fernando MD, Ouellet LJ, Holmberg SD. Comparison of HIV infection risk behaviors among injection drug users from East and West Coast U.S. cities. Journal of Urban Health 2004;81:260-7
   
   
7. Garfein RS, Vlahov D, Doherty MC, Thomas D, Monterroso E, Nelson KE. Prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C virus infection among young adult injection drug users. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology 1998; 18: S11-S19
   
   
8. Garfein RS, Vlahov D, Galai N, Doherty MC, Nelson KE. Viral infections among short-term injection drug users: the prevalence of hepatitis C, hepatitis B, human immunodeficiency, and human T-lymphotrophic viruses. American Journal of Public Health 1996;86:655-661