The Division of Global Public Health

Richard S. Garfein is an Associate Professor in the Division of Global Public Health in the Department of 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.