Richard Garfein

Richard Garfein is a Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego. His research focuses on infectious disease epidemiology, particularly tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS, and hepatitis, with an emphasis on marginalized populations such as people who inject drugs and migrant communities. He has led studies on cross-border health issues between the U.S. and Mexico, digital health interventions for TB treatment adherence, and the impact of public health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts in Biology, University of California Santa Barbara (1985)
• Master of Public Health in Epidemiology, San Diego State University (1989)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University (1997)

Research Interests:

• Global health interventions targeting drug-resistant TB and HIV/HCV co-infections
• Public health responses to emerging pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2
• Health disparities in border regions and among vulnerable populations
• Evaluation of mobile health (mHealth) and telehealth technologies for disease monitoring
• Policy analysis of drug laws and harm reduction strategies

Grants & Leadership: Principal Investigator on numerous NIH-funded studies, including projects on video-observed TB therapy, drug tourism impacts, and supervised injection sites. Collaborates with institutions in Mexico, Taiwan, and South Asia.

Labs/Teams: Leads the UCSD Profiles research group and contributes to cross-disciplinary projects at the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute. Collaborates with the SEARCH consortium on SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance.