Joel Palefsky

Joel Palefsky is a Professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and a leading expert in Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection, particularly in HIV-infected populations. He founded the HPV Working Group of the NCI AIDS Malignancy Consortium and chairs the ANCHOR study, an NIH-funded clinical trial preventing anal cancer in HIV patients. As director of the Anal Neoplasia Clinic at UCSF, he trains global clinicians in high-resolution anoscopy and anal biopsy techniques.

• International research in India, Costa Rica, and Thailand
• Over 275 publications and multiple NIH grants
• Current president of the International Papillomavirus Society
• Founder of the UCSF Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship Program

His research spans HPV-related cancers, molecular biology, and clinical trial design, with a focus on HIV co-infection. Recent publications examine anal and cervical HPV dynamics, vaccine immunogenicity, and microbiome interactions in cancer progression.

Notable scientific awards include election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2003), multiple teaching awards at UCSF, and recognition as a Top Doctor in Infectious Diseases.

Palefsky leads numerous NIH-funded studies including CAMPO Center for HPV-related Cancer Prevention (U54CA242646), anal HPV vaccine trials (R01CA217715), and investigations into HPV-HIV interactions (R21CA206352).