Ippolytos Kalofonos

Ippolytos Kalofonos is an Assistant Professor-in-Residence at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), affiliated with the David Geffen School of Medicine and the UCLA International Institute. He is also a psychiatrist at the Greater Los Angeles Veteran Affairs Medical Center and an Investigator at the Center for Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, and Policy. His work integrates medical anthropology, psychiatric practice, and global health to address systemic inequities in healthcare access and social justice.

Dr. Kalofonos holds an M.D. from UCSF, a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from the UCSF-UC Berkeley Joint Program, an MPH in epidemiology, and a Master in Health Sciences from UC Berkeley. His research focuses on meaning in psychosis, Veteran health, homelessness, and the political economy of health. He critiques how global health systems often neglect structural drivers of inequity, advocating for interventions that address racialized exploitation, imperialism, and institutional failures.

His book ‘All I Eat is Medicine’: Going Hungry in Mozambique’s AIDS Economy (2021) examines the intersection of HIV/AIDS, poverty, and colonial legacies. Current projects include adapting hearing voices groups for Veterans and evaluating safe camping initiatives to improve homeless Veterans’ healthcare access during crises like the pandemic.

• Awards: American Council of Learned Societies Fellow, AHRQ-PCORI K12 Award, Clark Taylor Prize
• Grants: NIH-funded studies on Veteran mental health and homelessness interventions
• Labs/Teams: Collaborates with VA’s Center for Healthcare Innovation and Veteran peer support networks