Mark Dworkin

Dr. Mark Dworkin is a Professor and Associate Director of Epidemiology in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is a board-certified Infectious Diseases physician with a Master’s in Public Health and Tropical Medicine, trained through the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. His work bridges academic research, public health practice, and education, with a focus on HIV epidemiology and public health interventions.

Dr. Dworkin's research centers on public health surveillance, outbreak investigation, and HIV-related behavioral research, particularly antiretroviral therapy adherence among high-risk populations including young African American men who have sex with men and female sex workers. His work extends globally, including studies in India on treatment adherence. He has contributed significantly to health education through innovative tools such as a food safety comic book for people living with AIDS and the mobile health intervention using a talking human agent to improve medication adherence.

The recent publications reflect a strong trend in behavioral and technological interventions in HIV care, combining epidemiology with health communication and digital tools. His work emphasizes health literacy, cultural sensitivity, and the use of novel media to improve health outcomes in vulnerable populations.

Dr. Dworkin is the editor and author of the textbook Cases in Field Epidemiology: A Global Perspective, which serves as a key educational resource in outbreak investigation and surveillance. He teaches graduate-level courses in public health surveillance and outbreak investigation and has co-taught undergraduate public health courses.

He has held significant public health roles, including State Epidemiologist at the Illinois Department of Public Health and work in the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS, where he led multi-city surveillance projects. His expertise is applied through consulting with health departments and publishing surveillance data and outbreak analyses.